Short Lines

When a line of iambic pentameter contains less than the ten requisite syllables, the implication is that Shakespeare has written in a pause, similar to a rest in music. The rhythm goes on, but there is a pause in the words.

(If the above paragraph sounds like Martian to you, it may help, I hope, to read the Introduction to Blank Verse.)

The line

Must give us pause: there's the respect

has only nine syllables. This implies that there is a (brief!) pause either before the line, after it, or somewhere in the middle of it. But where? How do you know?

You have to use your acting instincts and your intelligence. Probably the pause in the line comes after the word "pause." Hamlet says that the thought of the dreams that may come during that sleep of death must give us pause, and then he illustrates it on the spot. He probably pauses while he tries to remember just what his nightmare was.

The length of a pause doesn't depend on the number of missing beats. It depends on the play, the scene and the actor. The purpose of the verse is to serve the play.

For a discussion of how the pause may affect the other characters in the scene, see Short Lines as an Ensemble Acting Hint.

© Deloss Brown 1999

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