Free Verse

“I Hear America Singing” – Walt Whitman

“I, Too” – Langston Hughes

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• Type of Poem: Free Verse– Does not follow a rhyme scheme or meter.– Use poetic elements to create a sense of

balance.– Walt Whitman was the first to use free verse –

it was controversial.– Many people today write in free verse.

After we read together, with your neighbor discuss the following and record in your notebook:

• “I Hear America Singing”– Find two poetic elements that Whitman uses

to create balance and measure in the poem. Define them and give examples where they’re used.

– What is this poem about?

Answer the following questions in your notebook.

1. Analyze the diction of “I, Too”: what do you think the strongest words are?

2. “I, Too” was written in response to “I Hear America Singing.” What is the Hughe’s purpose in writing the poem?

3. Pick a poetic element in “I, Too.” Define it, give an example of where it’s used.

Fame is a bee. (1788)By Emily Dickison

Fame is a bee.

It has a song—

It has a sting—

Ah, too, it has a wing.

1. What is this poem about?

2. Define metaphor. What two things are being compared?

3. What is being personified in this poem?