“...the caged bird sings of freedom.”
What is Free Verse Poetry?
Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. Free verse is considered an open form of poetry, as opposed to poetry written in structure or form, and tends to follow natural speech patterns and rhythms. While some rhyme and rhythm may occur in free verse poems, the poet does not adhere to strict patterns. However, this not does imply that free verse has no guiding principles. Indeed, free verse generally contains poetic lines and poetic imagery that distinguish it from prose.
Poetic Elements
Stanza
stan·za
/ˈstanzə/
noun
a group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem; a verse.
a group of four lines in some Greek and Latin meters.
Definitions from Oxford Languages
How many stanzas do you see in the example on the left?
Line
unit of language into which a poem or play is divided.
In the poem above, how many lines did you count?