Tonko Maroević's Free Verse

Abstract

The free verse of Tonko Maroević is analysed on the basis of the verse-theoretical literature. The first part of the paper deals with a concise presentation of scientific descriptions of free verse, which serves as the basis for the analysis of the free verse written by Tonko Maroević. The central part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of the rhythmic, graphic (strophic), and euphonic structure of Maroević’s free verse. The analysis shows which metric properties cause a kind of rhythmic constriction and when the free verse is being released from certain metric constants that both visually and audibly burdened the rhythmic structure of the poem. Also, a type of free verse (ghost of meter), to which rhymed verse is a metametric background, is shown. The concluding section presents the types and subtypes of free verse that have crystallised in this analysis.