Blank verse

[milktree]

Compare:

And I do think, or else this brain of mine
Hunts not the trail of policy so sure
As it hath used to do, that I have found
The very cause of Hamlet’s lunacy. . . .

and

And I do think, or else this brain of mine hunts not the trail of policy so sure as it hath used to do, that I have found the very cause of Hamlet’s lunacy. . . .

I used to read Shakespeare the first way, like a poem with dumb little pauses at the end of each line; and not as just as streaming text that happens to be formatted funny. I'm pretty sure that's why Shakespeare was so hard to read.



I saw a movie a few months ago called Yes through Netflix that was in iambic pentameter, but not in an uncomfortable, awkward way. Modern language and subject, just with a rhythm that was beautiful to listen to. It took me several minutes before I figured out that's what was going on.