What is a Free Verse? : All You Need to Know

 

Introduction

Hello! My name is Arastu Goyal and in this article, we will be talking about how to write free verse poetry. As you may know that there are hundreds if not a thousand types of poetry, going from Limericks, Haikus to Free Verse poetry.

Basically, free-verse poems are poems that don't follow a traditional structure, rhyme or meter, thus they are called free-verse poetry. 

When I started out with writing poetry, the first poem I ever wrote was a free verse! At that time I did not know much about poetry myself so this was a great way to start!

How to write one?

To write a free-verse, you can write them about anything! These can be put in any way, you can rhyme if you want to but I wont recommend it as it may distract you a little from actually putting out the message of your poem.

Here, read this piece I wrote-

Tea With Some Folks

The wind came, and sat on his chair

As flowers bloomed here and there

We sat with the sun, and had some tea

The wind invited too his wife, the breeze

The trees danced, with the autumn air

As the sun sets, with a yellow glare

The smell of mud, just before the rain

From the clouds, from the skies,

We went away, and it came

-Arastu G.

If you observe it, count the syllables,  you will be able to notice that there is no meter or a fixed rhyme scheme that I am working with here, whatever comes to my mind I just jot it down with the use of some metaphors and other poetic devices, but even without them I can make a piece of vivid and beautiful poetry.

Pros & Cons 

Pros-

• Really great for starting out.
• Don't require much effort.
• Can be written by anyone.
• Very beautiful to read.
• Fun to write

Cons-

• You might get too obsessed with them

I have been doing poetry for some time now and I have successfully written more than a 100 poems, but most of them are free-verses, this has prevented me from learning new forms of poetry for a lot of time, which basically is the whole point of what being a poet is about!

• Can make you a lazy poet

Knowing that you can just take something and fit it all together and it is still poetry. It might make you lazy when you are writing more pieces, so instead of working with syllables, you might just start working with free verses!

(Note:-Though I mentioned a few cons, don't think much about them, those are just for advising you to not be stuck with one form like me!)

Conclusion

In conclusion, I will recommend writing free-verses to any starting or intermediate poet, this will strengthen your ability to use poetic devices and and better your understanding with how to write poetry.