**Part 1: Analysis of Free Verse Poetry**

Read two examples of free verse poetry from the list below. Read the poems (or portions of the poems if they're long—at least 20 lines), then describe your impression of the poems. Consider the following questions:

- What do you think they were about?
- How did you feel about the lack of structure, such as rhyming and regular verses?
- How did reading them make you feel?

**Part 2: Write Your Own Free Verse Poem**

Write your own free verse poem. You may want to start by writing a prose paragraph, then break it up into meaningful lines as you write about your subject. Experiment with different versions: one with long lines, one with short lines, one mixed, and see which you prefer. Feel free to change things as you go.

**Example of a Free Verse Poem by Carl Sandburg:**

*Fog*
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

**Other Poems by Carl Sandburg:**

- Buffalo Bill
- Upstairs
- Wilderness
- Young Bullfrogs
- Laughing Corn

**Poems by Walt Whitman:**

- There was a Child went Forth
- A Farm-Picture
- Warble for Lilac-Time
- The Torch
- A Clear Midnight

**Poems by Pablo Neruda:**

- In the Night
- Lost in the Forest
- You Sing

**Poems by E. E. Cummings:**

- because it's
- Little Tree
- Spring Is

Please choose your poems and write your impressions as instructed.