William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” contains an example of blank verse: “And, when he should die, / Take him and cut him out in little stars / And he will make the face of heaven so beautiful / That all the world will be in love with night / And not worship the gaudy sun.” How is it that thou art out of breath when thou hast breath / To tell me that thou art out of breath? / The explanation that thou makest in this delay / Is lengthier than the tale that thou excusest.
Shakespeare composed his works in three distinct text structures: rhyming verse, prose, and blank verse. Blank verse has a set rhythm, but the lines do not terminate in rhyme, which makes them more casual. Blank verse is utilised frequently in “Romeo and Juliet” due to its more casual and personal tone, which is considered romantic. Similar to blank verse, rhyming verse has a defined rhythm, but it rhymes at the ends of the lines. Prose is merely a paragraph structure that employs standard text without a distinct rhythm.
The Second Quarto of “Romeo and Juliet” contains 2,111 lines of blank poetry. The majority of “Romeo and Juliet” is written in blank verse. Iambic pentameter is what gives blank verse its rhythm. In 1540, Henry Howard introduced blank verse to England.
