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Roy Jerden

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Punctuation and Capitalization in Poetry

Blog Posted by Roy Jerden: 7/18/2014 6:35:00 PM

In many European forms of poetry, it has been traditional to capitalize the first word of every line. To some degree, there has never been a stated rational reason for doing so, it was just the way it was done. The same has been true for the use of periods. In many cases they were not used at all, except in quoted sentences. Other punctuation rules, such as commas, have been generally observed.

Should punctuation and capitalization be used in poetry just as though it were prose? No capitals at the beginning of every line, but only as appropriate. Periods at the end of every sentence?

Anything else? Exceptions?

What are your thoughts?

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Cyndi
Macmillan

Date: 7/19/2014 7:40:00 AM

http://forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7771982046/m/1003911567 WOOOOOOOOOW! I love this! Seriously, this is one of the best blogs I have read on punctuation in poetry. It's power. It's weaknesses. Roy, let me know what you think... interesting, yes? Cheers, off for the day... gonna rain here and I think we'll go bowling. I won't complain about rain... so much horrible stuff going on in the world ... I'm not on topic here... just feeling the horrors of the Ukraine ... the storms hitting our friends around the globe... Syria... so much anguish... :( sorry... will go hug my girl. What a world I've brought her into...

Roy Jerden
Date: 7/20/2014 10:09:00 AM

That was a good discussion, Cyndi. Just as a trial, I went back and re-punctuated according to prose rules and de-capitalized first words as necessary in my poem called "Willow" to see the effect. I don't care for the result too much, particularly the commas on the end of the lines, which seem redundant. The line break should be enough. Even the colon before the list seems out of place. The line is an entity in poetry and serves purposes, one purpose is a pause, I think.

Cyndi
Macmillan

Date: 7/19/2014 7:31:00 AM

Could not pull up the interview... GRRRRR.... anyway, here is a great blog on the subject.... interesting and thoughtful examination of some good poems and the reasoning behind the use of/or lack of use of punctuation http://sheilapacka.blogspot.ca/2011/08/to-punctuate-or-not.html This is kind of where I am trying to head... make it matter! HUGS.

Cyndi
Macmillan

Date: 7/19/2014 6:43:00 AM

I've bounced back and forth, exploring what I like and I think it all depends on the poem, perhaps even the subject of the poem. Poetry is NOT prose. I'll find a rant by one of Canada's most recognized literary giants... she sounds snobby, but makes sense that "Poetry is a language all its own." Cheers, Cyndi

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 7/20/2014 9:31:00 AM

The more a poet is willing to pull out of his/her comfort zone and try something different, the better that poet will become. Even those classic writers who we all adore did not play it safe. Some are born with ability. But the majority hone their abilities, yes? Hope you are having a good summer!!! xoxox

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 7/20/2014 9:28:00 AM

Andrea, the ability of the person writing poetry is not stagnant. Each poem written, I believe, helps a poet develop his/her skills. So, by playing with punctuation and INDIVIDUALIZING syntax rules for THAT poet (like Cummings,) a VOICE and STYLE is created by the poet. We all stumble with something we have never attempted before or do not attempt often...

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 7/19/2014 10:52:00 AM

Yes, Cyndi, it all depends on the type of poem. That makes a world of difference in the use of punctuation or not, and also in the ability of the person writing the poem

Andrea
Dietrich

Date: 7/18/2014 8:34:00 PM

The way modern publishers prefer is for us NOT to capitalize the beginning of each line, well, at least the ones I have investigated. Like Charlotte says here, just write your poem as you would prose, stopping your lines with periods when the sentence is finally finished, and not putting a capital letter until you have begun a new sentence. This is my preferred way. A good writer can get away with not using punctuation. Unfortunately, not many people are clever enough to do proper line breaks; therefore, they produce run-on sentences that are difficult to read. The beauty in punctuation is that when properly used, it eliminates ambiguity in what the author is trying to say. I love it!

Charlotte
Puddifoot

Date: 7/18/2014 8:24:00 PM

yes, the traditional way is to capitalize each line; however, the modern way is to write each line as you would write prose, just capitalizing after a full stop...I had always been in the habit of capitalizing each line, but I reluctantly dropped the habit and I think it reads better the modern way...I've had to go back through my poems removing all the capitals! haha

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Punctuation and Capitalization in Poetry

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