It's funny: early free verse, especially Whitman, has so much rhythm it practically reads as blank verse. Also, I have a poem called "Scansion" in a folder on my computer marked "Second-Rate Verse" which sums up my feelings on the subject:
I don’t write in meter and rhyme just for fun.
There’s lots I could I say if I wrote in free verse.
But Jesus H. Christ man, it seems like a curse:
I mean, how the hell do you know when you’re done?
I'm just not... GOOD at rhyme or meter. Intense images I can do. Things you remember- verses that stick out, okay. But I've never been able to write song lyrics or any decent piece of poetry that rhymed. It's like wearing a corset. I do enjoy reading rhyming poetry though and see the logic behind your argument- and maybe it does take more skill to write that way and still be interesting rather than predictable.
It's funny: early free verse, especially Whitman, has so much rhythm it practically reads as blank verse. Also, I have a poem called "Scansion" in a folder on my computer marked "Second-Rate Verse" which sums up my feelings on the subject:
I don’t write in meter and rhyme just for fun.
There’s lots I could I say if I wrote in free verse.
But Jesus H. Christ man, it seems like a curse:
I mean, how the hell do you know when you’re done?
I'm just not... GOOD at rhyme or meter. Intense images I can do. Things you remember- verses that stick out, okay. But I've never been able to write song lyrics or any decent piece of poetry that rhymed. It's like wearing a corset. I do enjoy reading rhyming poetry though and see the logic behind your argument- and maybe it does take more skill to write that way and still be interesting rather than predictable.
I would not say traditional forms take more skill. Just that they help if being memorable is your goal.
I’m of the Artaud school of poetry so my aim is definitely not to be remembered for it.