Following are examples of free verse poems: After the Sea-Ship by Walt Whitman. After the Sea-Ship after the whistling winds;

Transcription

1 Free verse poems will have no set meter, which is the rhythm of the words, no rhyme scheme, or any particular structure. Some poets would find this liberating, being able to whimsically change your mind, while others feel like they could not do a good job in that manner. Robert Frost commented that writing free verse was like "playing tennis without a net." Free Verse Poems: No Rules Free verse poems do not follow the rules, and have no rhyme or rhythm; but they are still an artistic expression. They are sometimes thought to be a modern form of poetry; but, the free verse types of poem have been around for hundreds of years. Following are examples of free verse poems: After the Sea-Ship by Walt Whitman After the Sea-Ship after the whistling winds; After the white-gray sails, taut to their spars and ropes, Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks, Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship: 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; Fog by Carl Sandburg The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.

2 Free Verse by Robert Graves I now delight In spite Of the might And the right Of classic tradition, In writing And reciting Straight ahead, Without let or omission, Just any little rhyme In any little time That runs in my head; Because, I ve said, My rhymes no longer shall stand arrayed Like Prussian soldiers on parade That march, Stiff as starch, Foot to foot, Boot to boot, Blade to blade, Button to button, Cheeks and chops and chins like mutton. No! No! My rhymes must go Turn ee, twist ee, Twinkling, frosty, Will-o -the-wisp-like, misty;

3 Feelings, Now by Katherine Foreman Some kind of attraction that is neither Animal, vegetable, nor mineral, a power not Solar, fusion, or magnetic And it is all in my head that I could see into his And find myself sitting there. Washed Away by Katherine Foreman Nothing's changed except me and the facts And the sadness I didn't mean to start. But it feels different now you've said It's wrong, and I still can't see your point. And I think as water runs over my hands that That's really all there is or can be. The gold is wearing off the infamous ring And something wears away from around my heart. After the Sea-Ship by Walt Whitman After the Sea-Ship after the whistling winds; After the white-gray sails, taut to their spars and ropes, Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks, Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship.

4 Little Father by Li-Young Lee I buried my father in my heart. Now he grows in me, my strange son, My little root who won t drink milk, Little pale foot sunk in unheard-of night, Little clock spring newly wet In the fire, little grape, parent to the future Wine, a son the fruit of his own son, Little father I ransom with my life. Winter Poem by Nikki Giovanni once a snowflake fell on my brow and i loved it so much and i kissed it and it was happy and called its cousins and brothers and a web of snow engulfed me then i reached to love them all and i squeezed them and they became a spring rain and i stood perfectly still and was a flower

5 Disappointments by Vivian Gilbert Zabel Every life has a room where memories are stored: A box of special occasions here, Shelves of shared laughter there. But back in the shadows Lurks a trunk locked tight, Not to be opened and searched. There hide disappointments Which darken every heart. Fantasy or Life by Vivian Gilbert Zabel So often you say you love me, Yet you seemingly don't know I cannot live in fantasy's fog, Always in the blurred drug of dreams. I need the clear, crisp light Found in reality's realm of day, Not the darkness of mere existence.