Mindi R. Englart
In this form, the poet is free to create his or her own rules to follow. This allows the poet to create the form of their poem to best match their intentions.
One of the most renowned free verse poems is “Song of Myself” by Walk Whitman:
“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars,/And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren,/And the tree-toad is a chef-d’oeuvre for the highest”
Have students write a free verse poem.
Dramatic Poetry (also called Narrative Poetry)
Tells a story with a clear beginning, middle and end. Here are a few lines from "The Clasp" by Sharon Olds: “She was four, he was one, it was raining, we had
colds,/we had been in the apartment two weeks straight,/I grabbed her to keep her from shoving him over on his/face, again, and when I had her wrist”. You can see how she is beginning to tell a dramatic story.
Have students write a dramatic poem.