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Punctuation and poetry
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From: Ruth I. Gordon <Druthgo>
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:43:23 -0700
A most important guide to the reading and "speaking" verse is punctuation, not line breaks or rhyme. Punctuation tells readers where to stop, start, slow down, etc.
What may kill sense is strict adherence to rhyme rather than the stops poets provide (which may explain why some Emily Dickinson really needs careful rehearsal and E.E. Cummings practice). I wrote an article on this some years ago but have no idea where it appeared or when.
In Agee's A DEATH IN THE FAMILY" the interludes are pure poetry (image, rhythm) in a prose novel--that is really not prosaic.
Big Grandma, gatherer of flowers
Received on Mon 18 Apr 2005 12:43:23 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:43:23 -0700
A most important guide to the reading and "speaking" verse is punctuation, not line breaks or rhyme. Punctuation tells readers where to stop, start, slow down, etc.
What may kill sense is strict adherence to rhyme rather than the stops poets provide (which may explain why some Emily Dickinson really needs careful rehearsal and E.E. Cummings practice). I wrote an article on this some years ago but have no idea where it appeared or when.
In Agee's A DEATH IN THE FAMILY" the interludes are pure poetry (image, rhythm) in a prose novel--that is really not prosaic.
Big Grandma, gatherer of flowers
Received on Mon 18 Apr 2005 12:43:23 PM CDT
