free verse

Free verse is primarily poetry that does not rhyme. Although there might be lines or lyrics that do rhyme phonetically, it is not the purpose of the poem to have a rhyme scheme. They are not perfect rhymes, so to speak, instead these poems are sometimes fragmented expressions of thought. Tide together by line breaks, rhythm, and beat they make a poem. The structure of these poems s more laid back and has much more liberty than a rigorous sonnet or haiku for example. Yet, in light of these differences, free verse is still a powerful movement of poetry. The works we studied this week seem to be polar opposites of some of our previous readings. No ABAB or ABBA rhyming that is so comfortable to read. Free verse does still use its surroundings, the art of everyday life, to create something tremendous. For instane, Elizabeth Bishops piece, “Filling Station”, is about a dirty gas station that the speaker undoubtedly examined very closely. Bishop has many concrete images in her piece (“dirty, oil-soaked monkey suit”, “greasy sons”, “big dim doily”, “big hirsute begonia”…) She even has a few referneces to nature there. She talks about poignant colors and sights that overwhelmed her while looking onto the station. This is similar to the accounts some Romantic poets made about different places they loved. Whether it was an abby, a garden, or a shore, they expressed what they saw in their poetry. Although a filling station may not seem as important as some of the fancier poetry we read earlier in the semester, Bishop’s piece as a resounding ending. The last stanza sums everything up to say that we all are loved, each part of us and our world is important. She accomplished with this poem what ever poet strives to do. Bishop saw something normal and mundane and got a revelation. Then she shared that revelation with the world by writing it down as poetry.