The New Poetry
Free verse, or absence of regular line beat and
absence of regular line length
Variety and looseness of form
Absence of rhyme and of regular stanzas
Use of conversational, everyday language
Brevity and condensation
Avoidance of rubber-stamp expressions (poetic clichés)
Disregard of old forms and standards
Use of slang
Curious, even freakish, typography—arrangement of lines, use of capitals and punctuation marks, etc.
Wide range of subjects, including commonplace, even
disagreeable, subjects
Subjects
chosen from everyday life here in America, instead of from the past and from
foreign countries
Realistic spirit
Keen insight that strips the surface glitter
(illusion) from all things, especially war
Direct, even fierce, attacks on all forms of
authority—social, literary, religious, etc.
Strong irony (“showing the other side of the
picture”)
Satiric
note (“searching out the faults of people and institutions to hold them up to
ridicule”)
Love treated naturally and sentimentally
Frank, fearless, unashamed attitude toward all things
Direct, vigorous, energetic attitude toward life
“Young,” noisy, insistent in tone
Objective quality, looking out rather than in;
describing the object for its own sake instead of telling how the poet feels
about it