Blank Verse in Iambic Pentameter
Poetry Contest
Write a blank verse poem in iambic pentameter. Any subject, 10 to 30 lines.
Blank verse has a regular meter, but no rhyme. The meter most commonly used with blank verse is iambic pentameter.
Blank verse must not be confused with free verse which lacks an identifiable metrical pattern, whereas blank verse has a very specific metrical pattern. We're using iambic pentameter to keep it simple.
It was especially favored by Robert Frost.
Here are the first eleven lines of his well-known poem "Mending Wall":
Something there is that doesn't love a wall.
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
Any subject, length 10 to 30 lines.
The contest winner will win half of the prize pool which is based on the number of entries. The second and third place winners will each share the remaining prize pool. The prize pool is currently 40.00 member dollars. There are 6 spots still open. If all open spots are used the prize pool will be 100.00 member dollars. In this contest at least 2 submissions must be made for the vote to begin.
Deadline: Contest is closed. Deadline was Friday, June 8, 2007.
Full Contest Listing
Blank verse has a regular meter, but no rhyme. The meter most commonly used with blank verse is iambic pentameter.
Blank verse must not be confused with free verse which lacks an identifiable metrical pattern, whereas blank verse has a very specific metrical pattern. We're using iambic pentameter to keep it simple.
It was especially favored by Robert Frost.
Here are the first eleven lines of his well-known poem "Mending Wall":
Something there is that doesn't love a wall.
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
Any subject, length 10 to 30 lines.
The contest winner will win half of the prize pool which is based on the number of entries. The second and third place winners will each share the remaining prize pool. The prize pool is currently 40.00 member dollars. There are 6 spots still open. If all open spots are used the prize pool will be 100.00 member dollars. In this contest at least 2 submissions must be made for the vote to begin.
Deadline: Contest is closed. Deadline was Friday, June 8, 2007.
