Do you think a poem needs to rhyme to be good, or is that entirely a personal preference thing

[ArcMage]

Grew up believing real poetry rhymes, took years of reading free verse to unlearn that assumption, curious where other people actually land on it now

[Brandon87]

Think rhyme is a tool, not a requirement, some subjects need the tension a rhyme scheme creates, others are better served by the freedom of unstructured lines

[VacantTundra]

Personal preference entirely, I love a well executed rhyme scheme and I've read plenty of free verse that felt stronger without one, no rule settles this either way

[Canopy]

Think rhyme done badly is worse than no rhyme at all, forced rhymes that distort natural word choice actively hurt a poem more than skipping the device entirely would

[Router53]

Depends entirely on the poem's actual subject for me, playful or musical subjects benefit from rhyme, grief and quiet observation usually land better without one

[Reuben]

Grew up dismissing free verse as not real poetry, completely reversed that opinion after reading poets who use rhythm and line breaks as effectively as any rhyme scheme could

[David93]

Think the skill required for a good rhyme scheme is underrated now that free verse dominates, a rhyme that doesn't feel forced is harder to write than people give credit for

[NovaBreaker10]

The intro to Macbeth at school.

[Violet16]

No rule either way for me, judge each poem by whether the form serves the content, a forced rhyme scheme can ruin a good poem just as easily as clumsy free verse can