Feeling in Forms

A good book for

learning about the

evolution of

American verse.
The past century or so saw the rise of free verse and, if not the decline of Formalism, a definite rethinking of it (especially in the US). Formalism, in short, is the practice of writing in form, established patterns of poetry such as the sonnet or haiku (read more here). Because of its reliance on tradition, formal poetry turns off hard-core free verse poets who find form too constrictive or perhaps prefabricated...