4.7 "Show, Don't Tell" and Free Verse

Structure

Does the poem rhyme?

Answer No

When a poem doesn’t rhyme, it is called free verse.

Does the poem have stanzas?

Answer No

• Free verse poems may be written in stanzas, but not always. The poem, Dog, has no stanzas.   

So what about the structure?

• The lines are part of the structure. Some free verse poems have stanzas that are part of the structure.
• The punctuation is also part of the poem’s structure. How to read free verse poems is less obvious than the poems you’ve studied so far and the punctuation helps with this!

 Listen carefully to the poem aloud and notice where the pauses are.