Free Verse? Pah! Re-verse to REAL Poetry
Many people are not big fans of the poetry genre known as free verse, me included. TBH, free verse twists my knickers up there.
Some of my pique stems from simple semantics. All definitions of poetry include meter/rhythm and word sound fun (rhyme, assonance, alliteration, etc.). Any third-grader knows what poetry is and how it works.
So what is free verse? It’s defined as poetry “without rhyme or meter”, or “An open form of poetry that follows the rhythm of ordinary speech.” Umm, so what is prose? “Language in its ordinary form, without metrical structure.”
Hmm. One need not be a cunning linguist to see that these definitions are the same. In mathematical terms, free verse = prose.
Confused? Try this:
“Free verse poems are very carefully structured to communicate meaning through sounds, line breaks, punctuation, etc. Poets using free verse aren't following rules. They have the freedom to choose whatever words, sounds, and shapes they want.”
So free verse is very carefully structured with freedom and no rules? How prosaic. Or perhaps just lazy?
My second complaint is a symptom of free verse. The rhyme and meter of true poetry form the foundation of song lyrics. Nothing emphasizes this more than the intense, rapid-fire cadence and ultrasonic syntax of rap. OK, so now write music to accompany free verse. (Cue the crickets.)
What sets my knickerbockers most atwist about free verse is the content. Have you tried to read any of it lately? Much of it is unfinishable abstract blather. I respect that it may mean something to the author, but what about the rest of us? How does this stuff even get published, much less studied and lauded?!?
And hey, to be clear, I’m fine if people like it and enjoy reading it. Just don’t call it poetry.
If you got this far, you just read a bunch of boring prose. What better way to express the above ideas than poetry! In honor of my disdain of free verse, I wrote an old-school poetry collage using four classic forms: the Spenserian sonnet, tanka, limerick, and ghazal. Enjoy! I did.
And write a real poem today, with rhyme and meter. It’s fun, and easier than you think! Especially if you use free verse. JK, party on!
Want more poetry, including custom song lyric adaptations? Check out our website. And thanks!
REFERENCES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_verse
https://literarydevices.net/free-verse/
https://poetryteatime.com/blog/learn-about-free-verse-poetry
Pichaske, David R. Beowulf to Beatles: Approaches to Poetry, ISBN 0029252601 (ISBN13: 9780029252604), 410 pp., Free Press, 1972.