5.17.W - Lesson: Free Verse Poem

(part 1) The sea is calm tonight, The tide is full, the moon lies fair Upon the straits; on the French coast the light Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.

(part 2) Come to the window, sweet is the night air! Only, from the long line of spray Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land, Listen! You hear the grating roar Of pebbles which the waves draw back and fling

(stanza 1) i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling) i fear

(stanza 2) no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

(stanza 3) here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

(stanza 4) i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

(part 3) At their return, up the high strand, Begin, and cease, and then again begin, With tremulous cadence slow, and bring The eternal note of sadness in.

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Although "Dover Beach" has a jumbled rhythm and rhyme scheme, its tone is still grand and formal. This poem by E. E. Cummings falls on the opposite end of the spectrum:

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Although people assume free verse is a modern invention, rule-breaking poets have actually been around for a long time! Matthew Arnold's famous free verse poem "Dover Beach" was published in the 19th century. Here is the first stanza:

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Essentially, Cummings put things like parentheses and semicolons where they are not "supposed" to be to visually show what he describes through words. The beauty of free verse poetry lies in the author's freedom to write whatever he or she wants, however he or she wants! Free verse poetry is literary expression not restricted by rules.

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Happy writing!

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No rhyme, no rhythm! "Fog" reads almost like a normal prose sentence.

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YOUR TURN

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"Fog", by Carl Sandburg, is a very short free verse poem:

The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.

Now that you have read some examples of free verse poetry, it's time for YOU to try your hand at one! Choose a moment in your life in which you experienced an overwhelming emotion like joy, sadness, excitement, loneliness, nostalgia, etc. Write an 8-12 line poem about that emotional moment.

Your free verse poem does not need to have either a consistent rhyme scheme or rhythm. It can be more on the formal, traditional side (like Arnold's "Dover Beach") or more on the informal, experimental side (like Cummings's "i carry your heart in mine").

Free Verse Poetry

If you don't like all the structure and rules we have been talking about in our poetry lessons so far, then free verse poetry is for you! Free verse is poetry that breaks the rules: it does not have a regular rhyme scheme or a consistent rhythm/meter.

As you can probably guess, E. E. Cummings is famous for completely breaking the rules of poetry. "i carry your heart with me" is so unstructured it can be confusing and intimidating! However, that does not mean it is not carefully crafted. Watch the following video. This video may help you understand more about how Cummings uses free verse to create his meaning.

This includes a clip from the movie, "In Her Shoes," where a bridesmaid reads the poem in her sister's wedding. The bride, standing next to the groom, is clearly moved by the emotion shared with her sister.

How E.E. Cummings Writes A Poem

https://youtu.be/kffo3pxNO7c

Objectives:

•Students will define and read free verse poetry. •Students will write their own free verse poem.