free-verse
free-verse — noun
1. a style of poetry that does not follow a fixed pattern of rhythm, rhyme, or line
a style of poetry that does not follow a fixed pattern of rhythm, rhyme, or line length, giving the writer freedom to shape each poem naturally
Gabriela published her first free-verse collection after years of writing traditional sonnets.
The teacher asked the students to compare a free-verse poem with a Shakespearean sonnet.
comparison: compare A with B
Aaron wrote a free-verse poem about bamboo forests near his home village in Taiwan.
Dewi's free-verse poem about the night market won first prize in the school competition.
Many young readers find free verse easier to enjoy than older poetry with strict rhyme.
- vers libre
the original French term, used mainly in academic or historical discussions of the form's origins
- open form
an alternative term favoured in literary criticism, emphasising the absence of fixed structural rules
- formal verse
poetry that follows strict metrical and rhyming patterns, such as sonnets or villanelles
- metrical poetry
poetry written in a regular metre, the opposite of free verse
用法筆記
Commonly used contrastively — a writer or work can be described as 'moving from traditional forms to free verse.' The hyphenated form 'free-verse' is typical before a noun (free-verse poem), while 'free verse' (no hyphen) is standard as a standalone noun phrase.