Free!
None of that counting syllables or beating out rhythms against your desk. Nope. This poem is all about honing in on a single image – which means that all the trappings of meter and fixed forms would only obscure the work being done by the language itself.
Stripped of all formal conventions, this poem can do what it does best: explore the sea rose from various angles.
Once you move outside of formal patterns (and, let's face it, those are so nineteenth-century), it's easier to concentrate on the sonic landscape of this poem – the way that the sounds weave together to create an integrated work. Don't worry, we'll talk more about that in "Sound Check." For now, though: no more form! No more form!