UNDERSTANDING SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE

All your questions answered and the mystery unraveled!

Blank (“unrhymed”—no rhyme at the end of lines) Verse: Poetry

written in unrhymed iambic pentameter

Iambic Pentameter (“pent”=five) (“meter”=measure): a line of

poetry that contains 5 iambs

Iamb: a metrical foot, or unit of measure, that consists of an

unstressed syllable

EX: It was the nightingale, and not the lark,

That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear.

EX: But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?

Couplets: When Shakespeare rhymes, he usually uses couplets-2

consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme. Couplets usually occur
at the end of a scene or when a character leaves the scene.

EX: Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

Shakespearean Syntax (Word Order):

Notice the following 6 sentences:

I ate the sandwich.

I the sandwich ate.
Ate the sandwich I.
Ate I the sandwich.
The sandwich I ate.
The sandwich ate I.

Four words can create six unique sentences which carry the same
meaning. When you are reading Shakespeare, look for his unusual
word arrangement. Locate the subject verb, and object of the
sentence. Notice that the object of the sentence is often placed
at the beginning in front of the verb and the subject. This
should help with making sense of Shakespeare.