Question

Read this excerpt from the poem "Monet’s ‘Waterlilies’” by Robert Hayden.

Here space and time exist in light
the eye like the eye of faith believes.
The seen, the known
dissolve in iridescence, become
illusive flesh of light
that was not, was, forever is.

O light beheld as through refracting tears.
Here is the aura of that world
each of us has lost.
Here is the shadow of its joy.

What is the best evidence that this poem is written in free verse?

It has two stanzas.
It has no set meter.
It uses alliteration.
It has no repeating words.

Answer 1

"It has no set meter."

Free verse is characterized by the lack of a regular metrical pattern or fixed rhyme scheme. The other options (number of stanzas, use of alliteration, or absence of repeating words) do not determine whether a poem is free verse.