I am contemplating the importance of punctuation when writing poetry.
Please be advised that I am not an expert – either of the period or the poetic form –
just a woman, who having stumbled upon the possibility of penning a word or two,
has found herself questioning (which definitely needs a question mark, doesn’t it?)
Blogging has opened so many possibilities: some, who like me, seem to fall back on conventional uses and others, who choose to ignore punctuation at all; and I am second guessing myself.
Does the end of a line of poetry infer pause, or is a comma useful? Do semi-colons even have a place in verse, or are they reserved for the monotony of prose. Dashes, quotations marks, italics – all surely deserve a place.(?)
Am I mired in the muck of high school grammar, missing out on true freedom of expression, or; is punctation the punch that adds meaning to my dribble?
What do you think?
as someone who designed a programming language and dabbled in awful poetry, i can tell you that punctuation can be very important… sometimes.
i think its overrated, and we have too much of it. but going all the way towards not using it? i designed a language that didnt need it, and i came back from none to much less than usual. thats probably where english is headed. there will always be classicists though. you preserve typographic ligatures in your english, dont you? i think teaching “proper usage” without teaching some of the things that got us to where we are, leads most people to think there is an unchanging standard– pure mythology! in poetry, moreso.
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I am aware that text language, etc is changing the world – it’s inevitable, I think. It’s just so ingrained in me, lol
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theres nothing wrong with preferring a classic style– as much as one person can decide theyre going to move away from it, another person can write entire books or libraries with classic (and most conventional) rules– thats fair play! and schools are going to teach “the right way” until the changes finally drag schools along too. that could take decades or more.
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I personally think that grammar and punctuation assist in adding meaning. Freedom of expression is one thing, but if I can’t understand you, then it’s a bit pointless. There’s a version of Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ which has no punctuation at all, which is horrifying. There is also a great book called Eats Shoots and Leaves which you might enjoy. Good luck with your quest!
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