Having heard all the arguments over the [many] years, I have agree with Kevin.
The challenge and satisfaction comes from completing the effect within the restrictions of the form. Anything else seems to be cheating, just to make the writing easier; as Yolanda appears to admit when she stated it's 'easier' when not driven by the 'count'. A sonnet would be easier, also, if one did not have to worry about how many lines there were, or the number of feet per line...
If you don't work within the parameters of the form, it's just free verse. It may be good free verse, but let's at least use the proper nomenclature when discussing it.
Otherwise, we're just Westernizing one more Eastern concept in order to please ourselves, and to make it 'easier', while trying to convince everyone it's still the authentic article.
[This message has been edited by Jerry Glenn Hartwig (edited April 03, 2005).]
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