When mentioning about poems, a great majority of people will think of a piece with rhyming lines and a strict metrical pattern. However, poems that follow strict rules can be misleading at times. It can make the reader pay a little too much attention to the pattern and rhyme schemes, causing the reader to devalue the meaning of the poem.
Free Verse poems, on the other hand, break away from the traditional style and offer added effects strict followers could not bring. When poets write in Free Verse, they are able to mold and create their own unique poem, emphasizing the meaning of their piece. Lines can be broken anywhere the poet sees fit, and the length of the lines in a poem can vary. In doing so, poets can emphasize specific lines and make them stand out to the reader.
In Amy Lowell’s “The Weather-Cock Points South,” there were a few phrases that stood out to me due to the unique length and line breaking in the poem.
“I put your leaves aside,
One by one:
The stiff, broad outer leaves;
The smaller ones,
Pleasant to touch, veined with purple;
The glazed inner leaves.
One by one
I parted you from your leaves,
Until you stood up like a white flower
Swaying slightly in the evening wind.”
In the first stanza, “One by one” is clearly accentuated. This phrase makes the reader slow down and creates a very relaxed pace to the poem. In the second stanza, a different effect is formed:
“White flower,
Flower of wax, of jade, of unstreaked agate;
Flower with surfaces of ice,
With shadows faintly crimson.
Where in all the garden is there such a flower?…”
In this stanza, “White flower” is emphasized. This phrase marks the beginning of a new subtopic. This makes it clearer and easier to comprehend for the reader. It also makes the stanza more powerful.
I believe Free Verse enables the poet to enhance and add wonderful effects to their poems.
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