1. Analysing
Shakespeare’s poetry
Francis Gilbert

2.  To learn HOW and WHY Shakespeare
wrote poetry
 To learn about Shakespeare‟s use of
rhythm
Learning Objectives

3.  Shakespeare wrote most of his plays in
BLANK VERSE: each line has TEN
SYLLABLES and FIVE main BEATS.
 Much of his verse is IAMBIC, it consists of
a regular pattern where the stress on a
word comes SECOND: di-DUM
 The verse is written in PENTAMETER
because there are FIVE main beats (PENT
= FIVE)
Blank Verse

4.  Good actors develop a “FEEL” for the verse,
emphasizing its RHYTHMIC qualities.
 “But SOFT, what LIGHT through YONder WINdow
BREAKS?”
 It IS my LADy, O it IS my LOVE”
 Notice how the stresses come SECOND.
 Notice how the words GENERATE a music, a melody…
Reading Shakespeare’s verse

5.  Some of Shakespeare‟s verse is not REGULAR, ie
not in “iambic pentameter”
 The ONLY way to work out the rhythm is to read
it a FEW times and LISTEN to the beats…
 “O ROMeo, ROMeo, WHEREfore ART thou
ROMeo?”
 The line creates a “FALLING” rhythm, particularly
on “ROMeo” where there is a STRESS on the first
syllable and then TWO “soft” stresses, creating a
“FALLING” sensation. The effect of the rhythm is
to create an EMOTIONAL and PASSIONATE
atmosphere…
IRREGULAR RHYTHM

6.  The crucial thing to think about is the
EFFECT the rhythm of a line creates.
 You can only work this out by listening to
actors perform the line, and reading it
yourself…
Discussing the effect of the
rhythm

7.  Iambic verse (di-DUM) creates the
EFFECT of regularity, making things seem
NORMAL, it is RISING, UPBEAT rhythm.
 Eg “O SPEAK aGAIN, bright ANGel…”
Typical “EFFECTS”

8.  Anapaests (di-di-DUM) are RISING beats
too, creating often a POSITIVE, “proud”
EFFECT.
 “I am NO piLOT, yet wert THOU as FAR/As
that VAST shore WASHED with the
FARTHEST sea/ I should ADventURE for
such MERchandISE”
Anapaests

9.  Trochees (DUM-di) create a “FALLING”
effect, and often sound irregular and
disjointed.
 Eg “DOST thou LOVE me (TWO
TROCHEES)? I KNOW thou WILT say „Ay‟/
And I will TAKE thy WORD?”
Trochees

10.  Dactyls (DUM-di-di) create a “FALLING”
effect too, and can create the EMOTIONAL
effects of despair, worry, anxiety.
 “TOO like the LIGHTening, WHICH doth
CEASE to BE/ERE one can SAY, „It
LIGHTens‟.
Dactyls

11.  Look for enjambment (run-on) lines; this
often creates the sensation of “pace”,
“speed”, “thinking things through”…
 “But trust me gentleman, I‟ll prove more
true/Than those that have more cunning
to be strange.”
Enjambment (RUN-ON lines)

12.  Pauses or the ends of sentences in the
middle of lines create powerful pauses
that generate dramatic tension…
 Eg JULIET: “Well do not swear. Although I
joy in thee,/I have no joy of these
contract tonight.”
 Eg ROMEO: “Wouldst thou withdraw it?
For what purpose, love?”
The end of sentences or pauses in
the middle of a line (caesura)