Lesson 4
CHARACTERISTICs OF FREE VERSE
CADENCE AND FLOW - In free verse poems, cadence is built from the language the poet uses.
FORM FOLLOWING LANGUAGE - The poem’s line lengths, stanza breaks, internal rhymes, cadence, and
overall length are defined by the words that the poet uses.
NON-UNIFORM LINES AND STANZAS - In the free verse poem, lines and stanzas do not need to be
uniform.
EXPERIMENTS WITH SPACE - Because free verse poems have no set length, they can play with space on
the page in a way that formal poems can’t.
PROSAIC QUALITIES - Free verse poems can borrow from the qualities of prose, using straightforward
language and sentence structure to reinforce poetic ideas.
CONCISE IMAGERY - Free verse is often used by poets to create meaning from chaos, letting language
develop new forms, ideas, and images.
10. Limerick Poem
Usually humorous and frequently rude
in five line, predominantly anapestic trimeter with a strict rhyme scheme of AABBA, which the first, second and fifth rhyme, while the third and fourth are shorter and share a different rhyme
Purpose of Limerick Poem
commonly use to create funny imagery
often outrageous and connect together phrases that is unusual and humorous
Syllables
7-10 syllables in the first, second and fifth line
5-7 syllables for the third and fourth line
11. Tanka Poetry
Poetry which originated in Japan more than 13 centuries ago
short poems intended to evoke vivid imagery or reflection for readers
a free verse poetry but must follow a specific syllable patterns
written from a viewpoint of the poet (doesn’t mean they must be written in the first person, but the poet is ever present, always writing to express personal feelings about the subject
usually one long sentence broken purposely between 5 lines