Free-Verse Poetry

What is Free-Verse?
◊ Definition: verse composed of variable,
usually unrhymed lines having no fixed
metrical pattern.
◊ While free verse poetry has no regular rhyme
or rhythm, it can follow a pattern:
- Two long lines and then a short one
- Same number of lines in each stanza
- Repetition of the same word to begin or end
each stanza
Elements of Free-Verse
◊ Assonance
◊ Alliteration
◊ Imagery
◊ Onomatopoeia
◊ Cadence
 Assonance
◊ The repetition of identical or similar vowel
sounds
• “The morning was cold with a bold statement.
The morning dew was wet and set in the ground.
You could taste the spring paste fill the air.
It made you feel real, refreshed and lively.
Practice assonance
◊ Examine the picture
on the right. Write a
few lines describing
what you see, using
assonance
Alliteration
◊ The repetition of the same sounds or of
the same kinds of sounds at the
beginning of words or in stressed
syllables
• “Laura’s lizard likes leaping leopards.”
• “She sells sea shells by the sea shore.”
Practice alliteration
◊ Last names ending ◊ Last names ending
in A-M: in N-Z:
• Write a short • Write a short
description of a small description of a bull
child eating a rider getting ready to
melting ice cream come out of the
cone, using chute, using
alliteration. alliteration.
Share your work with a
partner!
Imagery
◊ The use of vivid or figurative language to
represent objects, actions, or ideas
◊ Using sensory language to create mental
images
“The air is crisp as I trudge home,
to see palms on frozen glass.
Watch as the darkness falls,
across the snowy lane.”
Practice imagery
◊ You have thirty seconds to view the
picture on the following slide. Then, use
imagery to re-create the scene in your
own free-verse poem.
Onomatopoeia
◊ The formation or use of words such as
buzz or bang that imitate the sounds
associated with the objects or actions
they refer to.
Practice onomatopoeia
◊ A poem titled “When Carly Eats
Spaghetti” is on the following slide. As
you read it, write down words that are
examples of onomatopoeia.
 “When Carly Eats Spaghetti”

When Carly eats spaghetti,

She chomps and gobbles and slurps,
The spaghetti disappears with a whoosh
Sauce slapping and smacking
Round her chops.
She scrapes the toast round the plate
Crunching, grinding every mouthful.
She burps, gurgles and leaves the table!
Cadence
◊ The rhythmic rising and falling of the
voice when speaking or reading poetry.
◊ The structure of a the poem that
emphasis’ words and/or phrases.
Examples of Free-Verse

◊ Walt Whitman- “
Walt Whitman”
Examples of Free-Verse

◊ Dylan Thomas- “
Do Not Go Gentle In
to That Good Night
”
Examples of Free-Verse

◊ Marianne Moore- “
The Fish”