Free Verse Quotes
Poetry that made its own rules.
Free verse broke from traditional form and, according to these poets, made its own kind of history in the process. The conversation continues in our book quotes page on the written word more broadly.
If a poem is not memorable, there's probably something wrong. One of the problems of free verse is that much of the free verse poetry is not memorable.
Popular Quotes Topics for You.
Free verse seemed democratic because it offered freedom of access to writers. And those who disdained free verse would always be open to accusations of elitism, mandarinism. Open form was like common ground on which all might graze their cattle...
Abandoned Quotes
Metrics are not a device for restraining the mad, any more than 'open form' or free verse is a prairie where a man can do all kinds of manly things in a state of wholesome unrestrictedness.
The voice is raised, and that is where poetry begins. And even today, in the prolonged aftermath of modernism, in places where 'open form' or free verse is the orthodoxy, you will find a memory of that raising of the...
I am not at all clear what free verse is anymore. That's one of the things you learn not to know.
I never abandoned either forms or freedom. I imagine that most of what could be called free verse is in my first book. I got through that fairly early.
The vast majority of free verse is ghastly. Utterly ghastly. No one reads it. No one listens to it.
Always Quotes
Well, it's a badge of honour for any self-respecting poet to be criticized by Auberon Waugh. But in a lot of ways my poems are very conventional, and it's no big deal for me to write a poem in either...
But in a lot of ways my poems are very conventional, and it's no big deal for me to write a poem in either free verse or strict form; modern poets can, and do, do both.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central debate in these free verse quotes?
Do any quotes credit free verse with real historical impact?
Is free verse criticized anywhere in this collection?
Do these quotes connect free verse to modernism specifically?
Where can I find more quotes about writing and creative freedom?
Not everyone agrees it works, though — some voices here argue too much free verse forgets to be memorable. Explore our abandoned quotes page for more on breaking from tradition.
