Writing Blank Verse 2 things to remember: - iambic pentameter - rhyme scheme

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Iambic Pentameter 10 syllables per line five iambs in a row unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (  / )  /  /  /  /  / Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Iambic Pentameter My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

Iambic Pentameter My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Iambic Pentameter WRENCHED ACCENT (  / ) unstressed stressed

(  / )     Iambic Pentameter WRENCHED ACCENT T O D A Y IF I (  / )  T O D A Y  IF I  R E F U S E  S W I M M I N G

Iambic Pentameter A WRENCHED ACCENT is... An alteration in the customary pronunciation of a word, that is, a shift in word accent, to accommodate the metrical accent in a line of verse. swimMING   SWIMming

ly ed er ing es ness tion +all the rest Iambic Pentameter WRENCHED ACCENT In English... ALL suffixes are UNSTRESSED ly ed er ing es ness tion +all the rest