blank verse
Preserved but no longer current.
Rhymeless verse in continu- ous decasyllabics with iambic or trochaic rhythm, first used in English by the Earl of Surrey in his version of the &neid> about 1540. There is other unrhymed verse, but it is not usual to extend to such poems as Collms's Ode to Evening, Whitman's Leaves of Grass, or the vers libre of to-day, the name blank verse.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “blank verse” mean?
Rhymeless verse in continu- ous decasyllabics with iambic or trochaic rhythm, first used in English by the Earl of Surrey in his version of the &neid> about 1540. There is other unrhymed verse, but it is not usual to extend to such poems as Collms's Ode to Evening, Whitman's Leaves of Grass, or the vers libre of to-day, the name blank verse.
Is “blank verse” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.