The idea of determining the effect of
a particular type of poem is interesting but probably also open to a rather broad
interpretation. For me, the primary effect of free verse poetry is that of narration.
In other words, these kinds of poems often sound as much like
storytelling of various kinds as they do poetry.
Robert
Frost's "Home Burial" is a good example. This free verse poem is in our textbook and we
usually read it together, but I tried an experiment one year. I simply read it aloud to
them, without trying to either "play up" or diminish the poetry of the work. When I
finished reading, I asked for their impressions. Almost without hesitation, several
students remarked that it "almost sounded like a poem." So there it is. I know this
poem is more of a narrative (story) than some other kinds of free verse, but another
Frost work--"Mending Wall"-- sounds as much like a story as a poem, despite a few more
poetic devices.
Other works, such as Whitman's
Leaves of Grass, are less obvious but also tell a story.
(Whitman's work is more of a stream-of-consciousness narrative, another kind of
storytelling).
You may get a few other perspectives here.
I'll be as interested as you to read them!
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