I read the chapter on free verse/verse that is free. To be perfectly frank, I am writing about the free verse chapter because I already knew nearly all of the stuff in the formed verse chapter. I mean, I knew a lot of the free verse stuff, too, but I did learn a couple things.
For instance, the origins of free verse were always a little obscure to me. I had generally gathered the impression that free verse was what a poet did in a time crunch when they couldn't pull together a brilliant sonnet, or something the poets crapped out because they straight up did not feel like writing in a certain stressed-speech pattern. As it turns out, it was developed as a way to deviate from the norms, to push the "approved" subject matter to the background and write poetry about anything and everything that came to mind, in any particular way the poet desired. Walt Whitman and William Carlos Williams wrote multiple poems that are perfect examples of such a technique, and Whitman is often considered a pioneer of free verse.
I have always personally enjoyed writing in free verse because when one is writing something, it is generally because they feel strongly about the subject or they have a wonderful idea, and such feelings or thoughts should not be repressed by a rhythmic pattern or meter.
As I read further, I got this lovely tidbit of information thrown at me: free verse still follows a form. Um, I'm sorry, WHAT. Oh my God, the illusion is shattered. It's like the guy in the Mickey Mouse costume at Disney World taking his mask off while he's still on duty, and little childhood me finds out he's just a person in a suit instead of an actual singing, dancing giant mouse--the very foundations of what I once believed have just been annihilated.
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