William Scott Mattox

    Free verse poetry is one of the most unique genres of literature. It does away with the conventions of most styles of poetry. This allows the authors to create poems that explicitly fit their tone and voice. Audiences vary in nature and shift from poet to poet or even poem to poem. This creates a sense that there are genres of free verse poetry. However, I will be exploring free verse from an inherently macro perspective and thus not delving as far into its subtleties and nuance as I could. 

    Free verse eliminates the rigid structure of poem types such as haiku or sonnets. These poems are classified by their specific meter and rhyme schemes. Free verse poems don’t always lack these elements; however, their authors are not required to abide by them. This allows for an artistic license to create exactly as the author wishes. “After the Sea-Ship” and “Free Verse” are two examples of each extreme on the spectrum of this genre of poetry. Walt Whitman, in “After the Sea-Ship”, focuses on creating imagery through vivid verbs and concrete adjectives. For instance he writes, “… Waves of the ocean, bubbling and gurgling, blithely prying,/ Waves, undulating waves-liquid, uneven, emulous waves,/ Toward that whirling current, laughing and buoyant, with curves,/ Where the great Vessel, sailing and tacking, displaced the surface.” In the last four lines of his poem we observe varying line length in no particular pattern. Furthermore, there is not an observable rhyme scheme. On the other hand Robert Graves creates his own unique rhyme scheme in “Free Verse”. He writes, “ I now delight/ In spite/ Of the might/ And the right/ Of classic tradition,/ In writing/ And reciting/ …”. The poem displays an emphasis on linking lines together through rhyme. However, it does not display any observable pattern to how the lines are linked by rhyme. I feel that the absence of continuous rhyme improves a free verse poem. Whitman’s work effectively emphasizes the imagery he is creating for the reader. Whereas, Robert Graves’ poem appears less like a free verse and more like a poorly organized structural poem. However, the freedom created by the lack of regimented rules is the beauty of free verse and provides authors with a blank canvas to express themselves. 

    The genre itself is a way for authors to creatively express themselves. This comes at the cost of consistency and cohesion among samples of the genre. The nature of the genre is responsible for such broadness. The ability to create without rules limits the potential to retain a consistent audience for the genre. This is detrimental in the sense that a fan of free verse poetry is probably a fan of a specific type or style of free verse. Therefore, it may be hard for new authors to break into the genre with their own individual style. This could force poets to imitate another author’s style in order to gain an audience. This issue detracts from the genre’s goal of being the ultimate in free, creative expression. This creates a power imbalance between authors of free verse poetry. An established author with their own style is likely to have a wider audience and influence the style of new poets entering the genre. This presents a choice to those who wish to enter the genre and acts essentially as a barrier to entry. The choice to follow in the footsteps of those who came before or attempt to establish their own unique style. This creates a struggle in how to cultivate and maintain an audience. It is a vicious cycle in which influence stems from the size of one’s audience. However, how influential can an author be if they are riding on the coattails of another free verse poet’s style and audience? Therefore, the established poets retain much of the power within the genre and newer poets struggle to acquire it. 

    Free verse poetry can provide a medium for political speech. My favorite example of this is Langston Hughes’, “I, Too, Sing America”. In this poem Hughes utilizes extended metaphor in order to convey the marginalization of African American’s in the United States. He continues this metaphor to describe how the position of African American’s will progress in future society. He concludes his poem with an indirect call to action, “… Besides,/ They'll see how beautiful I am/ And be ashamed—/ I, too, am America.” This implies that the reader take the position/perspective of the marginalized social communities of America. When it was written, the poem was probably speaking to the plight of the African American community in particular. However, when taken within the context of modern social injustice, the poem could be speaking to any number of oppressed communities within the United States. This poem speaks to Hughes nature as a protest poet. He utilized the genre’s loose boundaries in order to create an artistic social commentary that called out the injustices of society. 

    The genre also demonstrates that poetry can still be musical in the absence of rhythm and rhyme. The biblical poem, “Song of Solomon”, is one such example. The poem reads similarly to a hymn. This means that I can imagine reading it along to a slow tune and the language present lends itself well to aligning with music. In “Song of Solomon” it is written, “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys./ As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters./ …” This reminds me of hymns in the Church of Christ which are sung like poems are read (with no music) and could be loosely included within the genre of free verse poetry. However, many of the same hymns sung in the Church of Christ are sung in other denominations, who do utilize music. Thus, the musical nature of many free verse poems is highlighted by this reality. 

    Free verse poetry creates a wholly unique space within the already unique genre of poetry. Poetry is artistic and creative expression through wordplay. The ability to write outside the bounds of poetic styles allows for authors to truly express who they are. This allows them to express musical tendencies or express social commentary through the imagery they create.  However, the genre creates an interesting power dynamic between the free verse writers themselves. It is a small barrier to entry, but a barrier none the less. Free verse poetry is a genre filled with a multitude of sub-genres. It is a well of creativity with the only regiment being that it is unregimented. 

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Citations: 
Graves, Robert – “Free Verse”
Hughes, Langston – “I, Too, Sing America”; 1926; The Weary Blues
King Solomon – “Song of Solomon”; 1611; King James Version
Whitman, Walt – “After the Sea-Ship”