I understand your aversion against free verse, but let me see if I'm convincing:
Poetry is the condense expression of experience. It's saying something in the least amount words possible. So whether it is a sonnet or free verse, we should not judge a poem's literary merit purely on the rhyme scheme or consistent rhythm. Free verse is less constricting in respect that it has no set rhyme or meter, but it is no less demanding because you are still trying to say something with least amount of words. Free verse is liberating and daunting at the same time. You see, with established forms such as a sonnet you can always fall back upon the form, while free verse you have everything at your disposal. In effect, its arguable that it is easier to write in a scheme than to not write in one because of the sheer freedom you have. Moreover, free verse poets recognize the aspect of rhythm and take that into consideration in their unit of rhythm, the line.
If poetry is truly saying something within the least amount of words possible, then forms such as the sonnet or the villanelle act as straight jacket of expression because it neglects the true expression of meaning. Instead of expressing what you really want to say, you have to invert that within the confines of meter and rhyme scheme. That's not to say that a sonnet is no less poignant than free verse. It just goes to show that different poetry styles have different applications and benefits. Perhaps because of the constriction of the sonnet you express meaning within the least amount of words possible and that its all the more harrowing and resonant because of the rhyme scheme and meter. And that's true for Shakespeare to Keats. But ff you are going to write a good poem, it is going to be hard regardless of form. You are still going to deal with rhythm, sound, imagery and figurative language. T.S. Eliot attests to the fact that free verse is no less easier than the sonnet and it can be as powerful and resonant as any poem.
29-Jun-2011 22:03:07
- Last edited on
29-Jun-2011 22:10:24
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Nguy4