| The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. |
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| blank verse |
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| Verse written in iambic pentameter, without rhyme. Many of the speeches in the plays of William Shakespeare are written in blank verse; this example is from Macbeth: | 1 |
| Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, | | Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, | | To the last syllable of recorded time; | | And all our yesterdays have lighted fools | | The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! | | Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player | | That struts and frets his hour upon the stage | | And then is heard no more: it is a tale | | Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, | | Signifying nothing. |
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| | | The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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