by Sarah Sanny

Created on: July 17, 2008

I'm sure some people will argue that free verse is not poetry because it does not follow the strict guidelines that dictate what poetry is. I, however, disagree. Poetry is about expressing emotions, letting out thoughts and feelings to express yourself more freely and with fewer restraints. I think free verse is poetry in its most raw form. It more easily relates emotions and thoughts to the writer's audience and is most certainly less difficult than rhyming or metered verse. Free verse comes from the heart. Trying to fit that into the confines of conventional poetry is like editing the raw emotions of the soul.

I've tried various forms and I personally find free verse much better for conveying any message I am attempting to get across the my audience. Many of my readers have commented to me how difficult it can be for them to understand metered verse because of how things sometime have to be worded in order to keep the rhythm of the poem.

Readers, as well as other poets, have told me that free verse is more able to evoke a better emotional response to a poem than a metered verse for the reason that more people are able to understand and therefore relate to a free verse poem. This allows a greater number of readers to enjoy poetry, especially if they find it difficult to follow poetry that is written by adhering to guidelines.

I think more people are coming to appreciate poetry since more free verse poetry is becoming a greater commonplace in the poetry community. It is creating more poets and more readers, which is good for all parties in the poetry world. It also brings a larger number of critics, who are becoming all the more knowledgeable, and can thereby give even better constructive criticism. As these critics, and others, learn more about free verse, it becomes more widely accepted, which will lead to more poets and possibly better writers of free verse, as some free verse poetry I have read is very poorly written.

With better knowledge and better criticism comes a greater understanding and a more well written poem!

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