WHAT IS FREE VERSE AND HOW FREE IS IT?
INTRODUCTION
I had wanted this to be a reply to a comment on one of my poems posted on a poetry website's facebook wall. The comment had asked why my poem had no rhyme scheme; basically no end rhymes. I had wanted to explain to the dude what free verse was and how it was different from blank verse, sonnets, haiku or whatever rhyming form of poetry but while doing some research on the internet, I came across a question on free verse and a reply that grazed my brain (blood flowed; literally saw red). The dude said and I quote,"free verse is just an excuse for the writer not being able to make lines rhyme and scan.
It is just manipulated prose !
You can take any piece of prose and split it into lines - but that does not make it 'poetry'."
That hurt! I wish I could see the man talk and fold a line or two of blank verse into his brain. (Yes, I was mad). Now this oldgrumpy's (that's his user name) answer was nothing more but ignorant opinion, it struck a jangling chord in my head. I immediately felt the need to change my topic of discourse in this post from 'free verse versus rhyme scheme' to 'what is free verse and how free is it?'
WHAT IS FREE VERSE?
First of all, Free verse derives its identity and innate meaning from the word, Vers libre, (French: “free verse”), a poetic invention of french poets like Gustave Kahn, Jules Laforgue, Francis VielĂ©-Griffin, and Edouard Dujardin. | |
| Gustave Kahn |
In Vers libre,
"the basic metrical unit is the phrase rather than a line of a fixed number of syllables,... In vers libre, the lengths of lines may vary according to the sense of the poem, the complete sentence replaces the stanza as a unit of meaning, and rhyme is optional." (http://www.britannica.com/
What does this mean for the layman or the poet that was born the innate ability to write beautiful poetry, with no training?
1. It means that instead of the normal measurement of poetry in syllables ( sound units in a word, made up of a vowel with or without a consonant) e.g. iambic pentameter, Vers libre based its measurement on the number of phrases in a line. This means the length of every line may differ since there is no restricting number of syllables to stick to.
2. If a complete sentence is in a line, it could function as a stanza as it bears the meaning of that stanza in itself unlike the traditional methods where stanzas have a definite number of lines e.g the pertrachian and shakespearean sonnet.
3. RHYMING IS OPTIONAL!! In Vers libre, its a choice to rhyme or not.
Now how does this concern Free verse? Being the forerunner of the Free verse or Free form as some prefer, Vers libre opened the door for poets to express themselves with raw passion untamed by strictures and rules.
Free verse is therefore,
- a poem that has no deliberate rhyme or rhythm (odd as it may seem, you sometimes finish a free verse only to find internal rhyme, end rhymes, alliteration and so on feeling right at home, sipping margaritas), no rules on length of line or number of stanzas. this also means that the poem can end anywhere the poet wants depending on the message and the flow of thought /inspiration.
- a poem which thought can flow from one line to the next through the use of enjambment(run on line) or left on one line.
- The poet can use a word as a line on its own in order to place emphasis on the word.
- The poet who uses free verse as his or medium of choice can write on any subject; love, death (my favourite), economy,social issues (another favourite), food, sex, whatever comes to mind.
- The language of free verse is the most entrancing language I know in the world of writing. I always say that I see myself as a painter with words; I create images using a pen for paint brush; a word for paint and paper for canvass. Free verse makes uses of metaphors, personification, imagery, puns, etc.
IS FREE VERSE FREE?
So is free verse, poetry? Yes it is. Is it truly free, no it is not. Certain fundamental laws cannot be ignored,1. Language: as stated above, the poet must make use of certain poetic elements especially metaphor. This is because it is the building block of imagery and other poetic elements derive their makeup from it. Its the dna of poetry. It must be there. This is what separate poetry from drama and prose. Without metaphors, might as well be writing an essay about a drunk man for all the world as far as my poem Drunken Reverie is concerned.
2. Arrangement of words: stuff like inversion, enjambment, repetition, alliteration, assonance etc bring lyricism and a skewed look at the poetic language and is poetry skewed!
3. Coherence: you don't go rambling left, right and centre because you are heartbroken and you've got access to a pen and a piece of paper. You've got to be coherent. After the deluge of inspired madness, sit down and meticulously put some inspired sanity to it.
Some popular freeversers include Ezra Pound, T.S Eliot, Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass; a good read), etc. God I love poetry!
 |
| Walt Whitman |
Now who says free verse isn't poetry? Who?
As a thank you for reading, here's a really good poem by Walt Whitman titled To Thee Old Cause. Peace.
TO THEE OLD CAUSE
To thee old cause!
Thou peerless, passionate,
good cause,
Thou stern, remorseless,
sweet idea,
Deathless throughout the
ages, races, lands,
After a strange sad war,
great war for thee,
(I think all war through
time was really fought, and ever will be really fought, for thee,)
These chants for thee, the
eternal march of thee.
(A war O soldiers not for
itself alone,
Far, far more stood
silently waiting behind, now to advance in this book.)
Thou orb of many orbs!
Thou seething principle!
thou well-kept, latent germ! thou centre!
Around the idea of thee the
war revolving,
With all its angry and
vehement play of causes,
(With vast results to come
for thrice a thousand years,)
These recitatives for
thee,—my book and the war are one,
Merged in its spirit I and
mine, as the contest hinged on thee,
As a wheel on its axis
turns, this book unwitting to itself,
Around the idea of thee.
RESOURCES:
· Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
PHOTO CREDITS:
en.wikipedia.org
(Walt Whitman)
judaisme.sdv.fr
(Gustave
Kahn)
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