Free Verse

Free verse does not use the fixed line lengths nor the strict metrical and rhyme patterns characteristic of formal poetry such as a sonnet or haiku. Instead, free verse varies line length to aid in achieving a desired impact. In "Maternity," Swir uses line length to feed the reader only one bite of thought at a time. She waits from one line to the next to drop the other shoe, so to speak. For example, the line "and asks for the sacrifice of my life" is stopped to let the reader wonder about or assume the meaning of "sacrifice." Then the next line "as does the Aztec deity" explains the kind of sacrifice with a comparison that is probably much more harsh than the reader expected.

Rhythm and sound patterns in free verse are created by the use of assonance, alliteration, internal rhyme, and the like. Swir...