The Tempest

A Shakespeare play basically is a long poem written in blank iambic pentameter, or unrhymed lines of five “feet” of two syllables each, with accents on the second syllable of each foot (as: da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM). For example, when Prospero brags to Ferdinand about his daughter Miranda:

Do not smile at me that I boast her off,

For thou shalt find she will outstrip all praise (IV.1.9-10)

Readers can find the stresses in the lines like this:

Do NOT smile AT me THAT i BOAST her OFF,

for THOU shalt FIND she WILL outSTRIP all PRAISE.

The thing about iambic pentameter is that it sounds close to regular English speech. So even though it is carefully crafted, actors can recite their lines and still speak in a natural-sounding rhythm, even if their diction and syntax are very different from what modern audiences are used to.

A style of poetry and story-telling arose in France and Italy during the Middle Ages called blank verse, which is unrhymed iambic pentameter. English authors, especially Chaucer, adapted it into the form used by Shakespeare. This form isn’t rigid, and there are many ways that poets and playwrights can adjust the rules to suit their needs. Most commonly, Shakespeare adds an 11th syllable to a line here and there. For example, Warning Ferdinand against breaking chastity before marriage, Prospero says:

If thou dost break her virgin-knot before

All sanctimonious ceremonies may

With full and holy rite be minister’d,

No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall (IV.1.15-18)

Note that the second and fourth lines each have an extra syllable at the end. This helps break up a rigid rhythm of speech and permits the players to sound more natural. Historians aren’t sure how much actors in Shakespeare’s time emphasized the rhythm of their lines; modern actors generally let the rhythm evolve naturally.

Another major exception to Shakespeare’s form is the speech of commoners, where lines are generally in plain prose, not blank verse. Many of the plays concern the lives of compelling members of the nobility; thus, most of the characters’ lines are in poetic form. However, servants, tradesmen, clowns, and others also figure into the stories, and their prose lines serve to contrast with the elegance of the upper-class characters.