butters
High on a Hill
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2009
- Posts
- 81,760
leaving prose right out of this, when you read poetry how do you feel about its usage?
i'm not talking about the kind of errors made with a misplaced or missing apostrophe but if you find the author is intruding on the write:
if they use none at all, do you wish they'd drop an affectation because you'd personally like some sort of guidance as to how it should be read?
if they use it fully, as once taught we should, do you see it as part of the poem or stage-directions by the author that doesn't permit you, the reader, the freedom to choose where you'd place stresses, stretch lines, create your own pauses?
there's always a middle-ground, of course.
this thread didn't come about solely because of Ash's preferences, but because the last small piece i wrote seems weighed down by semi-colons where i'd not normally opt to use them. initially, i hadn't, but felt they fitted the poem's own voice so added them; reading back through, i felt i was seeing my own hand dictating how it should be read and it felt stilted.
just thought it a topic worth opening up to discussion. as such, please feel free to bring examples to the table. for now, i'll post both versions of mine to illustrate what i mean.
Home
that place we see inside eachother's eyes
that door, that window, found within a touch
we're bricked and mortared, built on truth and trust
that spark of electricity - ah, lust
the fires of our hearts burn bright or banked
the ashes swept and daily we give thanks
that though the miles between us bluely roam
we've never felt so close, as now, to home
Home
That place we see inside eachother's eyes;
That door, that window, found within a touch;
We're bricked and mortared, built on truth and trust;
That spark of electricity - ah, lust;
The fires of our hearts burn bright or banked,
The ashes swept; and daily we give thanks
That, though the miles between us bluely roam,
We've never felt so close, as now, to home.
i'm not talking about the kind of errors made with a misplaced or missing apostrophe but if you find the author is intruding on the write:
if they use none at all, do you wish they'd drop an affectation because you'd personally like some sort of guidance as to how it should be read?
if they use it fully, as once taught we should, do you see it as part of the poem or stage-directions by the author that doesn't permit you, the reader, the freedom to choose where you'd place stresses, stretch lines, create your own pauses?
there's always a middle-ground, of course.
this thread didn't come about solely because of Ash's preferences, but because the last small piece i wrote seems weighed down by semi-colons where i'd not normally opt to use them. initially, i hadn't, but felt they fitted the poem's own voice so added them; reading back through, i felt i was seeing my own hand dictating how it should be read and it felt stilted.
just thought it a topic worth opening up to discussion. as such, please feel free to bring examples to the table. for now, i'll post both versions of mine to illustrate what i mean.
Home
that place we see inside eachother's eyes
that door, that window, found within a touch
we're bricked and mortared, built on truth and trust
that spark of electricity - ah, lust
the fires of our hearts burn bright or banked
the ashes swept and daily we give thanks
that though the miles between us bluely roam
we've never felt so close, as now, to home
Home
That place we see inside eachother's eyes;
That door, that window, found within a touch;
We're bricked and mortared, built on truth and trust;
That spark of electricity - ah, lust;
The fires of our hearts burn bright or banked,
The ashes swept; and daily we give thanks
That, though the miles between us bluely roam,
We've never felt so close, as now, to home.
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