Free-Form Poem

Free-form poem is one of the example of poem which has no pattern. It has no rhyme and the number of the line is free.The following is the example of analysis of a free-form poem: Happiness.

Happiness

By: Mary Oliver

In the afternoon I watched

the she-bear; she was looking

for the secret bin of sweetness -

honey, that the bees store

in the trees’ soft caves.

Black block of gloom, she climbed down

tree after tree and shuffled on

through the woods. And then

she found it! The honey-house deep

as heartwood, and dipped into it

among the swarming bees - honey and comb

she lipped and tongued and scooped out

in her black nails, until

maybe she grew full, or sleepy, or maybe

a little drunk, and sticky

down the rugs of her arms,

and began to hum and sway.

I saw her let go of the branches,

I saw her lift her honeyed muzzle

into the leaves, and her thick arms,

as though she would fly -

an enormous bee

all sweetness and wings -

down into the meadows, the perfections

of honeysuckle and roses and clover -

to float and sleep in the sheer nets

swaying from flower to flower

day after shining day.

1.  Overview of the writer

  Mary Oliver was born in 1935 in Cleveland, Ohio. She now lives in Provincetown, Messachusetts. She ever attended both Ohio State University and Vassar College, though she did not receive a degree.

     She is the author of several volumes of poetry, including Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems (1999); West Wind (1997); White Pine (1994); New and Selected Poems (1992), which won the National Book Award; House of Light (1990); and American Primitive (1983), for which she won the Pulitzer Prize.

2.  The short description of the poem

    Oliver told about a female bear that was looking for a bin of honey in the forest when the sun was going to be dark. The bear climbed down tree after tree and shuffled through the woods. She looked happy when she found the honey within the wood, then she dipped into it and scooped out in her black nails until she was full and a little drunk. After that, she left the wood with honeyed muzzle. Because of her happiness finding the honey she felt that she would fly. Then she slept in the sheer nets swaying from flower to flower.

3.  Poetic Devices

     a. Rhyme

         This poem has no rhyme in each stanza or within the lines, therefore this poem is called free form poem.

     b. Rhythm

         This poem is also free from fixed pattern rhythm.

     c. Alliteration

         There is alliteration like repetition of the same initial consonant in consecutive words or in words, it happens in the first stanza, such as line 6 (Black block of gloom); line 7 (tree after tree), and in the second stanza line 14 (swaying from flower to flower) and in line 15 (day after shining day).

     d. Onomatopoeia

         There is no onomatopoeia words in this poem.

     e. Repetition

         There is no repetition in every line or in stanza of the poem.

     f.  Imagery

         This poem uses some imagery such as:

         1)  Hyperbole : In the first stanza line 3, Oliver describes that the house of bee as a secret treasure, hence she uses phrase (for the secret bin of sweetness-honey). In the second stanza line 9, Oliver also pictures the bear as an enormous bee because her muzzle full of honey and her arms as wings.

         2)  Simile: In the first stanza line 9-10 (The honey-house deep as heartwood). In the second stanza line 6-8 (I saw her lift her honeyed muzzle into the leaves, and her thick arms, as though she would fly)

4.  Kinds of Stanza

     This poem consists of two stanzas. Stanza 1 contains 13 lines. Stanza 2 contains 15 lines. So, the stanza is not categorized into any kinds of stanza. It is dependence on its form.

5.  Poetic Diction

     Oliver uses the language for her poem simply. The words which are presented use denotation word but still represent the interpretative meaning.

6.  Content

Theme	Looking for happiness based on wish.
Tone	Happy
Message	We should struggle in searching something for obtaining happiness of our life.
Symbol	Honey Because it symbolizes sweetness of life, and sweetness of life is the reflection of the happiness of someone in his/her life.

7. Comment

    This poem is appropriate to be taught for junior high school level because the language used is very simple and rich of the teaching materials such as grammar and vocabulary building.

Analyzed by Supriyono, Syamsul Arief, and Amirudin Latif