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Poetry and punctuation

ana sana s
edited April 2014 in Writing
Something Liz asked on fb got me thinking about this. Writer's News poetry competitions always emphasise that poems must be properly punctuated. By that I assume they mean punctuate as you would prose. Elsewhere, I see published poems with minimal punctuation. What's generally expected?

Comments

  • BetsieBetsie
    You punctuate your poems to indicate how they should be read i.e. pause where you want a pause etc
  • aeschylusaeschylus
    There are plenty of excellent poems with little or no punctuation; eg EE Cummings' next to of course god America I and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Two scavengers in a truck, two beautiful people in a Mercedes.
  • aeschylusaeschylus
    Not to mention the idiosyncratic punctuation of Emily Dickinson, whose poems often continue in your mind after they have ended on the page (try the 5-stanza version of "I felt a funeral in my brain")....
  • LizLiz
    Hmmm. I particularly don't want to punctuate this poem. Aware it is frowned on though, thought I'd canvass opinion and see what peeps thought. Will post if you are interested.
  • NefertariNefertari
    If you feel the poem reads better and looks better without it then don't use it. Sometimes in a long poem with short lines too many commas can be visually distracting to the reader and the reader many not concentrate on the message of the poem. You have to let the poem decide.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    I've never really understood punctuation in poetry - commas or full stops at the end of a line seem superfluous - of course the reader will naturally pause before they start reading the next line. And - why, oh why, do poets overlap their lines - so that the first word of the next line actually belongs to the previous line? :-?
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Enjambement, Claudia - for
    added impact.
  • BetsieBetsie
    I like to see clever use of enjembement
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Oh, is that how you spell it? I guessed my spelling.
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    Enjambement, Claudia - for
    added impact.
    I like to see clever use of enjembement
    Oh, is that how you spell it?
    Enjambement/enjembement - about as clear as mud to this Philistine - let's call the whole thing off. (:|
  • BetsieBetsie
    Nell has the correct spelling
  • neilneil
    I don't wish to prolong the
    agony,
    but there are it
    seems
    two acceptable
    spellings: enjambment and enjambement.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Yes, it's to do with the French for 'leg' and jumping off the end of one line and onto the next.

    I think Claudia wishes she'd never mentioned it now! Look away, Claudia. Look away...
  • heatherheather
    It's to do with having different length lines so the brain doesn't get stuck in a rhythmic rut when reading and also the first and last words in a line are the most important, so you can break the lines at strong words instead of having lots of little start/end words reducing the impact.

    It has to be done
    carefully though or it can appear
    unnatural and look
    like you've just done it for
    effect.
  • CarolCarol
    So have you resolved your punctuation problem, Liz?
  • ClaudiaClaudia
    Yes, it's to do with the French for 'leg' and jumping off the end of one line and onto the next.

    I think Claudia wishes she'd never mentioned it now! Look away, Claudia. Look away...
    :)

  • LizLiz
    Sort of! An editor posted on FB and said she prefers without punctuation is such a piece so that readers can bring their own to it, their own meaning etc.

    I really just wanted to know if it was enjoyable without punctuation and readable and could be understood, and from reaction i presume it can be.
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