Free verse
English
Free Verse
• Free verse is a type of poetry.
• It has no formal rhyme, verse form or mete.
• It is usually written with non rhyming lines or phrases that
vary in length.
• They may or may not be broken into verses or structured
into sentences.
• Punctuation is sometimes used to create special
emphasis/effect.
More about Free verse
• A free verse is actually free from restrictions in content,
form, space, length, conventions, and rhyme; they could let
their imaginations soar. Free verse is just what it says it is -
poetry that is written without proper rules. In free verse the
writer makes his/her own rules. The writer decides how the
poem should look, feel, and sound about form, rhyme,
rhythm, meter, etc. The greatest American writer of free
verse is probably Walt Whitman. His great collection of free
verse was titled Leaves of Grass and it was published in
1855.
If you stood with your feet in the earth
Up to your ankles in grass
And your arms had leaves running over them Any Me I
And every once in awhile one of your leafy fingers want to
Was nudged by a bird flying past,
be
If the skin that covers you from top to tip
Wasn’t skin at all, but bark
Kuskin
And you never moved your feet from their place Karla
In the earth
But stood rooted in one spot come
Rain
Wind
Snow
Sleet
Thaw
Spring
Summer
Winter
Fall
Blight
Bug
Day
Dark
Then you would be me:
A tree.
Structure of Free verse
Free verse does not have a set pattern of rhyme or rhythm. There are no rules
about line length in free verse. You try to keep the words that belong together on
the same line, but, sometimes the poet will break these words if he/she wants to
create a visual shape to support the poem's message, or feeling that the poet
wishes the reader to experience. The poet may wish to put special emphasis on
a word he/she has used so he will place that word in a line by itself, or place it on
the next line so the reader notices it or is surprised by the poet's use of the word.
Often a poet will end a line because it feels right to him/her to do so. The poet
chooses the length of each line and the length of the poem according to the
message, or feeling he/she wishes to communicate to his/her reader. When free
verse is read aloud the reader can hear the rhythm of the words that the poet has
used in his/her poem. Think of it as spoken music. A lot of sensory language can
be used while writing a free verse. Sensory language is language that appeals to
the senses, i.e. taste, sight, hearing, smell, and touch. What separates it from
prose is the arrangement of carefully chosen words into verses.
Topic
Anything and everything can be the topic of a free verse lyrical poem. The
poem
can tell a story, describe a person, animal, feeling or object. They can be
serious,
sad, funny or educational. Whatever subject appeals to the poet can end up in
free
verse.
Language
The poet attempts to describe his/her subject with language that shows, not
tells.
For example, instead of writing “We had so much fun today.” the poet would
write, "They wore smiles all the way home." The idea being that a grinning
face is more
descriptive of the fun they had. It also leaves a stronger impression with the
reader.
Free verse poetry tries to capture images, convey meaning, or emotions
through the
use of lyrical phrases that will get the poet's message across without a lot
of telling.
Free verse poets use figurative and colourful language to create these
phrases.
