While Shakespeare writes in blank verse in iambic
pentameter, he varies it so that it is sometimes challenging to find large blocks of
text that are written in regular, unvaried iambic pentameter. Shakespeare might vary his
verse through the use
of:
- hypercatalexis,
which is adding an extra unstressed beat at the end of a line
(five and a half meters): "But he'; /
as lov' / -ing his' / own pride' / and pur' / poses,";
- catalexis, which is
lessening a line by one or more beats
(four and a half meters): "For
-sooth', / a great' / a -rith' / -me -ti' / cian, __";
- acephalous, which is the
omission of the first unstressed beat in a line: "__ Horri' / -bly
stuff'd' / with ep' / i -thets' / of war'"; - lines that
have a different meter, such as iambic
dimeter: "And what' / was he'?"
He also liberally employs
elision to blend several syllables into one beat, often by
dropping an unstressed vowel or syllable. "I" and "am" are elided in "I am worth": "I
know' / my price', / I_am worth' / no worse' / a
place'."
Shakespeare also may fill an unstressed beat with
the English pause, indicated by a comma, semicolon, colon
or em dash.
Having said this, here is an early
excerpt of a speech by Othello that is in iambic
pentameter--with--all manner of variation from acephalous (first
line) to hypercatalexis (most subsequent lines) to
regular pentameter: "Shall out-' / tongue his' / com -plaints'.
/'Tis yet' / to know',--".
readability="15">
Let' / him do' / his spite':
My ser' /
-vi -ces' / which I' / have done' / the sign' / -iory
Shall out' / -tongue
his' / com -plaints'. /'Tis yet' / to know',--
Which, when' / I know' / that
boast' / -ing is' / an hon' / -our,
I shall' / promul -gate'-- / I fetch' /
my life' / and be' /-ing
From men' / of roy' / -al siege', / and my' / de
-mer' / -its
May speak' / un -bonn' / eted to' / as proud' / a fort' /
-une
As this' / that I' / have reach'd': / for know', / I 'a /
-go,
But that' / I love' / the gent' / -le Des' / -de -mon' /
a,
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