'Free verse'? You may as well call sleeping in a ditch 'free architecture.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The term free verse is ironic because lack of structure is not true freedom.
- In plain terms
- Calling unsstructured poetry free is misleading.
- What can you take from it?
- Structure defines form; without it, the form is undefined.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes poetry structured?
- Is freedom in art possible?
Another view
It dismisses the creative intent behind free verse.
More from Gilbert Keith Chesterton
'Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.'
Permalink to quote #186 I've searched all the parks in all the cities And found no statues of committees.
Permalink to quote #188 Fairy tales are more than true - not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.
Permalink to quote #185
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