This free-verse poem has a strong sense of rhythm when read aloud.
Tips
history
Per 《新华词典》: 在西方以美国诗人惠特曼为创始人。我国'五四'以来的新诗也流行这种诗体 — 'in the West founded by the American poet Whitman; China's New Poetry since the May Fourth Movement (1919) has favoured this form'. Effectively the default mode of 现代诗 today.
usage
Stands opposed to 格律诗 (regulated verse — 律诗, 绝句, 词). 自由 'free' here means free of fixed metre, rhyme and line length, not 'free' in any political sense.
