I've always thought that meter and "natural speech" exist in counterpoint. But "natural speech" isn't just one thing. Just like with the script of a play, lines can be delivered with a wide variety of intonations, tempos, pauses, emotional temperature, etc. That variety, depending on the director and the performer, is virtually unlimited, but the different performances share one "meter" at their foundation and they play on and off the meter to achieve the desired effect. Personally, I write in sing-song (I'm a children's poet) but I don't recite in sing-song. Ideally, the expressiveness of the poem is enhanced by these two things going on at once, not exactly at odds with each other but in collaboration with each other.
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