Vajpayee's poetry: Interregnum between rhyme, rhythm and free verse

Vajpayee's poems marked the interregnum between the era of Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' and Maithilisharan Gupt, who were equally conversant with rhyme, rhythm and context, and free verses that compromise badly with poetry's lyrical quality. He preferred Sanskrit-origin words, with rustic and borrowed words when absolutely necessary.

When Vajpayee writes, for example, kartavya ke puneet path ko/ humne swed se seencha hai/ kabhi kabhi apne ashru aur/ pranon ka arghya bhii diya hai (We watered the new road of duty with sweat/ at times, we offered it our tears and life, too), the choice of words has a Sanskrit skew, but there is neither a metered approach nor rhyme to these lines.

But did Vajpayee's poems leave an impact on the readership? They left his audience asking for more, for sure. Thanks to his unique recitals!