The free spirit is one who is independent and expressive. They’re unafraid of society’s criticisms and equally prepared to sing their own tune.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Poems for a Free-Spirited Loved One’s Birthday or Birthday Card
- Poems for a Free-Spirited Loved One’s Wedding or Anniversary
- Poems for a Free-Spirited Loved One’s Funeral or Memorial Service
- Very Short Free Spirit Poems to Share on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook
If you want to find a poem that celebrates a loved one that is “free as a bird,” you’ll be surprised at the number of lines dedicated to such a spirit. For these loved ones in your life, there’s a unique niche of poetry just for them.
Poems for a Free-Spirited Loved One’s Birthday or Birthday Card
Poetry has a way of making birthdays that much more special. Add any one of these poems to a birthday card or send it in a message first thing in the morning.
1. "Untitled" by Maya Angelou
“In all the world there is
no heart for me like yours.
In all the world there is
no love for you like mine.”
Two peas in a pod, two birds on a wire, no matter how you define your relationship, you're the two puzzle pieces meant to be together.
2. "Free Spirit” by Jacqueline C. Nash
“She would sit entranced
by babbling brooks,
swim naked in clear rivers
and dry herself in the golden sun,
making even the green willow smile.”
Some would use the word feral to describe someone who feels at ease with nature. Others would envy her unbounded spirit. Either way, it works for the loved one who’s most at peace in the wild.
3. "Untitled" by Diana David
“She was born with the
exotic rhythm,
blazing sun,
majestic waters
& ancient winds of the
desert woven into her soul…
She was never just a girl.
But a girl with a remarkable
world hidden deep beneath her skin.”
David’s poem recognizes that some people don’t fit into the categories most of society imagines for people. In a way, it also attempts to explain how being an old soul might look or feel.
4. "Untitled” by Melody Lee
“Don’t tell a girl
with fire in her
veins and hurricane
bones what she should
and shouldn’t do.
In the blink of an eye,
she will shatter your
ridiculous cage you
attempt to build
around her beautiful
bohemian spirit.”
From a parent’s perspective, you appreciate all the things and ideas that come from a very free-spirited child. This poem will help them understand your delight in their strength.
5. "Untitled" by E.V.
“Like wildflowers;
You must allow
yourself to grow
in all the places
people thought
you never would.”
Here’s a sweet poem for the child who is no longer a child. If a loved one needs a little guidance or some appropriate wisdom, you could add this lovely ‘nudge’ in their birthday card.
Poems for a Free-Spirited Loved One’s Wedding or Anniversary
While one day is never enough to express how much you love your partner, poetry makes a particularly welcome addition when you married your best friend.
6. "Untitled" by Rumi
“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
Rumi’s reflection on the common phrase makes for an endearing tribute to your partner on your wedding day. Consider reciting it when you pay honor to them during the toast.
7. "And Then" by Lang Leav
Leav begins her poetry with, “I always thought the words, and then, were a prelude…” But she explains that while these two simple words are often paired together to weave that story, it’s when they explain meeting someone who fulfills every missing part that, and then becomes a finality.
8. "Untitled" by butterflies rising
“destiny in those wild eyes”
In just five words, this stanza from a tiny little poem expresses a novel’s worth of ideas and conversations. It’s perfect for anyone who’s fully captured your heart and enraptured your soul.
9. "Untitled" by Christy Ann Martine
“If I were the sun
and you were the sky
I’d never set.
I’d hover above
the edge of the water
waiting for you
to shine you stars
on me so I could
become bigger
than what I am.
I am brighter
When I’m with you.”
This poem works well whether you’re expressing it at a wedding or on an anniversary. It’s the perfect way to say you love someone, no matter who is on the receiving end.
10. "Untitled" by butterflies rising
“you are
so wildly beautiful
in all the ways I could ever
imagine someone
to be beautiful”
This verse works for that perfect romantic setting. Write it in a card, send it in a text, or just whisper it in their ear.
Poems for a Free-Spirited Loved One’s Funeral or Memorial Service
When grieving, it’s not uncommon to be at a loss for words. That’s where poetry can fill in the gaps. When your own words fail you, you can still find other meaningful verses that can help express what’s in your heart and on your mind.
11. "Free Love" by Rabindranath Tagore
“By all means, they try to hold me secure who love me in this world.
But it is otherwise with thy love which is greater than theirs,
and thou keepest me free.
Lest I forget them they never venture to leave me alone.
But day passes by after day and thou art not seen.
If I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep not thee in my heart,
thy love for me still waits for my love.”
Tagore’s poem realizes that love means allowing someone to remain free and untethered. Yet, even in the absence of thought or motion, that love remains unchanged.
12. “Everything is Free” by George Elliott Clarke
“Wipe away tears,
Set free your fears:
Everything is free.
Only the lonely
Need much money:
Everything is free.
Don’t try to bind
The love you find:
Everyone is free.”
The opening stanzas of this poem start with appropriate lines for a funeral or online memorial site. It can help with those grieving, in the hopes of sharing the guiding values shown by a deceased loved one of loving and living freely.
13. "Walls" by Noam Hendelman
“I am surrounded by walls,
tall ones, short,
natural, hand-built,
visible, invisible,
and my mind and body,
are also walls,
around my soul,
and my soul has no walls.
It is a free spirit.”
Now that the earthly realm is of silent consideration, your loved one is free to move about, freed from things that bound them when they were alive.
14. “The Wild Bird” by Gretchen Warren
“Like silence of a starlit sky,
Like wild birds rising into night,
Such was her dying, such her flight
Into eternity.
But I, who dwell with memory,
Dream in my grief that she may soar
Too high, and needing love no more
Come nevermore to me.”
Many funeral poems imagine that there’s this world and then there’s the next. Letting someone go to be free in whatever spiritual world can be hard for those left behind. This poem by Warren helps to tie a loved one’s spirit to wild birds soaring, open to adventure in eternity.
15. "Part Four: Time and Eternity” by Emily Dickinson
“NO rack can torture me,
My soul’s at liberty.
Behind this mortal bone
There knits a bolder one”
Dickinson’s opening lines in this poem captures the fiery spirit of independence and the strength needed for someone to stay true to their freedom. If you had a loved one with a fierce independent streak, this poem would also be fitting as part of a tribute speech.
Very Short Free Spirit Poems to Share on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook
It's more common to see poetry without a title, especially ones that are short as the ones below. Unfortunately, even authorship can be missing from them, too.
16. "Untitled" by Madiha Batool
“She is a wild child,
with a gypsy soul
that dances with the stars.
She has a free spirit,
a reckless mind and a rebel heart
that isn’t meant to be tamed.
Love her wild and
you will never lose her.”
Here’s a poem to dedicate to a loved one who’s exuberance for life is as intrinsic to life as air.
17. “I am in love, hence free to live” by Vera Pavlova
“I am in love, hence free to live
by heart, to ad lib as I caress.
A soul is light when full,
heavy when vacuous.
My soul is light. She is not afraid
to dance the agony alone,
for I was born wearing your shirt,
will come from the dead with that shirt on.”
While there is no shortage of poems about love, finding freedom in the feeling of love can be hard to put into words. Pavlova’s poem manages to do that, capturing the soaring ups and downs and the liberty associated with the feeling of love.
18. "Untitled" by Michael Faudet
“I spend most nights at home, falling in love with the idea of you.”
Faudet’s poem drips with the intensity of a new relationship and the feeling of uncertainty and excitement.
19. "Untitled" by Erin Van Vuren
“I will not be another flower
picked for my
beauty and left
to die. I will
be wild, difficult
to find, and
impossible to
forget.”
Van Vuren’s poem may echo what’s in your heart. Use this poem as a message to all that you will not be forgotten, and that your impact will outlast your physical presence.
20. "Wolf and Woman" by Nikita Gill
“Some days
I am more wolf
than woman
and I am still learning
how to stop apologizing
for my wild”
Gill's short poem works for that friend who needs to hear that they require no apology.
Poetry That Encapsulates Free Spirits
If you’re not much of a wordsmith or handy with the rhyming dictionary, poets young and old have made the process easier on you. Use the poems above to help you highlight the vibrant or laidback free spirit of a loved one, no matter the occasion.
Sources
- butterflies rising. Wild Spirit, Soft Heart. butterfliesrising.com/passion-in-that-wild-heart/
- Clarke, George Elliott. “Everything is Free.” Whylah Falls, Rain Coast Books, 1990, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46205/everything-is-free
- Dickinson, Emily. “Part Four: Time and Eternity.” Bartleby.com, Bartleby. www.bartleby.com/113/4035.html
- Hendelman, Noam. “Walls.” Poetry, Pinterest. www.pinterest.com/noamhendelman/poetry/
- Pavlova, Vera. “I am in love, hence free to live.” Poetry Magazine, Poetry Foundation. January 2010. www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/53191/i-am-in-love-hence-free-to-live
- Warren, Gretchen. “The Wild Bird.” Poetry Magazine, Poetry Foundation, July 1916, www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=13456
- Poem Hunter, www.poemhunter.com/
- Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/