English Literature / Unit 7 ENL 0619 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Shakespeare's Verse and Prose
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The idea
Most of Shakespeare's serious speech is blank verse, but he mixes in prose, especially for comedy, as in the Henry IV plays, where Falstaff's tavern wit is prose. The witness notes that his mature plays switch between prose and poetry as scenes turn comic or serious.
In practice
Blank verse for weight, prose for wit.
Where people slip
Rhymed couplets often close a scene.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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