vers libre

(le) vers libre (FR N-M) free verse. About 1880, the Symbolist poets reacted to the too-strict Parnassian control of technique. They abandoned the fixed number of syllables per line of verse, as well as regularly recurring metrical accents. The poet alone was to determine his own personal basic rhythm, according to the subject or mood he wished to convey. Henri de Régnier and Emile Verhaeren were notable practitioners of vers libre. T.S. Eliot (1888 – 1965) writes disapprovingly: »No vers is…