Analyzing and Interpreting Literature / Unit 6 AIL 0524 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Hughes and Free Verse
Captions available
The idea
The anchor's free-verse chapter uses Langston Hughes's poem about rivers, published in nineteen twenty-one. Its lines run to different lengths and fall into no repeating foot, yet it is heavily rhythmic through repetition and parallel phrasing. Free verse abandons metre, not rhythm.
In practice
No metre, considerable rhythm.
Where people slip
Free verse is not shapeless.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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