Merriam- Webster cites the definition of poetry as “the art
of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by
beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts”. Merriam Webster defines free
verse as “verse composed of variable,
usually unrhymed lines having no fixed metrical pattern”. When comparing
poetry to free verse, I think poetry is a much more beautiful piece of art.
Free verse can be very elegant and creative in the way in which it is written,
but poetry supersedes it in many fashions.
Poetry reflects someone’s thoughts or feelings in a very
creative, figurative, and deep way. Emotions are reflected in the writing of
poems. Authors of poetry use numerous literary devices, especially the use of
metaphors and similes. These devices provide a lot of meaning as they compare
different things in a very creative and meaningful way. It is these metaphors that
often provide the most insight into that the author is feeling and why they are
writing the poem. Free verse tends to not have so much emotion attached to it,
making poems much more meaningful and heartfelt.
Rhyming is also a big part of poetry that I don’t believe
the Merriam- Webster definition captures. Rhyming is such a big part of many
poems. It helps creates the moods and tone. Rhyming is even the basis for
several poems! A haiku follows the 5-7-5 syllable-rhyming pattern. This format
has provided some amazing poems as it forces authors to condense their thoughts
into a small amount of words. This then creates a beautiful collection of words,
which reflects the author’s feelings in a rhyming fashion. This is something
free verse lacks. Rhyming defines poetry and gives it a beat. It forces the
reader in a specific way free verse cannot.
Yet another way I think poetry is different from free verse
is the interpretation. Poems are most often relatively short in length. This
means that the author must be succinct in what they are writing. Due to a norm
of short poems, many authors present their theme with a lot of loose ends. The
author expects you to tie those loose ends yourself. The author may not explain
a metaphor, the theme, or what a stanza really means; it is up to the reader to
figure that out. That is why poetry can be so beautiful. Free verse on the
other hand tends to be much longer, thus the author has more freedom to expand
on what/why they are writing.
Hey Scott,
ReplyDeleteNice comparison of poetry and free verse, but there are a few things to remember. Free verse IS poetry; it is a type of poetry. The discussion on Tuesday centered on the differences between poetry and PROSE. They, too, have similarities but are farther apart than free verse poetry and poetry.