Origins of Free Verse by Kirby-Smith

FORMALIST or FREE -a theoretical study of historic poetry techniques

A valuable short(290 pages) study aimed at identifying various kinds of free verse and explain how they originated.
Formalist or free verse is the perieninual question?,as the author mentions ,the truth is ' poems are inevitably human,imperfect& fallible'.Quite so ,poetry as structured prose aims to create a unique one off 'as is moment' experience with the reader each time.Thus the test will always be....how it reads aloud,...no matter the genre or form or lack thereof.
Nothwithstanding these ongoing topics , the many very helpful citations included provide opportunities for further study for those so inclined to pursue this controversial poetic dilemma.
Not a book for the general reader ,however as it can be very theoretical and technical as it examines historic poetic English language.