Free Verse

[Godslayer Jillian]

I don't think I have ever written a poem in Free Verse.
I don't like it.
I don't think I have read a Free Verse poem I have liked. Poems do not need to rhyme, but they have to have a cadence. Shakespeare wrote his plays in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Robert Frost would agree with me. He said he would as soon play tennis without a net as write free verse.
Free Verse proper, without a cadence, seems nothing but an easy way to pretend one is writing poetry without having to deal with the matter of making it melodic.

[LostAndCrazy]

Whereas I agree with Jillian on his points, I feel that you should write from your heart and soul.

They do not always come out as pieces that adhere to any rules. To me writing is strictly a form of self expression, so I guess I'm in the 'creatively designed prose' section.

That does not mean I do not like poems written in Iambic Pentameter, for instance, I love Shakespeare although I've never read Frost. I don't think I ever will because a certain asshole on this forum seems to love him. (I am not referring to Jillian)

People, please write about things you feel strongly about, is all I would tell any aspiring poet.

[HumanePain]

Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't free verse be similar to prose? O.o

[om3gag0th666]

There is a thing called 'prose poetry.' I still think it's poppycock of course.

Poems only need at least one of these things: condension of thought, meter, rhyme, complex metaphors, metonymy, etc.

It needs one of the elements of poetry to truly be classified as such.

Even prose can be POETIC, but if most of it is NOT poetic, it's NOT a poem in my eyes.

Also if you punctuate a poem correctly and lay it out in sentences and it reads like prose, then it's prose.

I prefer to write in meter, most people hate it, they find it too difficult.

[HumanePain]

Ah, thank you for the explanation. Now I want to go read about Estep, Fehrlengetti, Alan Dugan and Seamus Heaney.

[MollyMac]

Ahhh... the "Flying Ferlenghetti"... his style of writing, physically, remind sme of a trapeze artist. Dugan is a wonderful low-key poet (He died about two years ago), who is post-modern but without making your spine flutter, if I am thinkin gof the right guy.

Seamus Heaney is a god to me, though. He re-translated Beowulf a few years back- it has become the ONLY Beowulf I now own. His adds a more modern cadence that his poetical works evidence; as in referrin gto his unborn godson as tha navigator of his friend's life- the ebbing of word and phrases, ebbing in time with nine months, if you listen.

[Nocturalis]

I rarely use a metre. I like free verse best of all, actually. The reason I write in english, not dutch, is because it is so much more free. Same reason I don't write in meter. I feel constricted when having to adapt my words to such strictness. I use my feeling when writing. I strongly disagree that poetry needs to rhyme, or needs to have a structure. It's almost undefinably diverse. I myself use plenty of metaphors, words that sounds well together, multiple meanings or possible interpretations. I don't give a damn if a poem is free or in metre, it's good or bad, it could have a flow. I can't explain to myself why I think one poem is a success and another is not. I like to be original, diverse, avant-garde. I want my poetry to be shockingly unpredictable and keep people attentive. My poetry sometimes becomes prose-poetry, but I've written dialogues of sort, descriptions, introspection, and other simply bizarre things. I feel... limited to use metre. It's difficult, yes, but to me, not rewarding either. I am completely open to interpretations. Maybe I should call my work simply "creative use of language" because it is broader than what most people would call poetry.

[Minyaliel]

Personally I agree
with Nocturalis, to a certain degree.
I seldomly try to fit
a metre when writing
but I guess my musical genes,
so used to strict rhythms
often still unconsciously makes it sound
as if I'd sat pondering over it
for days on end.

Poetry must reflect your mind;
and so it will always be that some
need the metres, and some will be free.

[om3gag0th666]

Originally Posted by Minyaliel

Personally I agree
with Nocturalis, to a certain degree.
I seldomly try to fit
a metre when writing
but I guess my musical genes,
so used to strict rhythms
often still unconsciously makes it sound
as if I'd sat pondering over it
for days on end.

Poetry must reflect your mind;
and so it will always be that some
need the metres, and some will be free.

A tad pretentious aren't we dear?
You claim to master meter's sound.
You claim to know about this stuff,
but all I see is crap around.

[MollyMac]

Free verse is a style of poetry that I have yet to attempt, such a slave to cadence. But, you can see it as stylized prose, I suppose. Prose is more cohesive in my opinion- focused on theme alone and neither bound by metre nor rhyme. It bears that much in common with free verse, but free verse is more about flashes of images and sound and less about prosaic flow.