| Author | Message | ||
| Howard R
Member Username: writerhoward Post Number: 70 Registered: 01-2009 |
How do you decide which word to use to end a line? What rules/guidelines do you follow? | ||
| ~M~
Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 33613 Registered: 11-1998 |
Whew! Hell of a question there, Howard. You could write a book on this topic. In fact, books have been written on this topic. Many of them. Here's a thread in NATUROPATHY, our Library forum, with some information from an article on line breaks: Article on Line Breaks And here's another with a link to an article on enjambment: Article on Enjambment And another thread were Wild members talk about and dissect the subject: Workshop on Linebreaks I hope these threads contains some helpful information for you. And speaking of NATUROPATHY, you might want to take a stroll through our library when you have time. We've archived lots of good material there on hundreds of different poetic topics. Love, M | ||
| Fred Longworth
Senior Member Username: sandiegopoet Post Number: 5741 Registered: 05-2006 |
The problem has always been that, with the passage of the years, poetry lines like to curl up at the edges, like a slice of bread left in the sun. This is unsightly. Also, when a line curls up that way, profanity has been known to crawl underneath. I recall the pillbugs that skitter under flagstones in the garden. The solution is to choose words at the beginnings and ends of lines that have stick-um on their fannies. Thus, a well-written poem will take the form -- stick-um . . . dah, dah, dah . . . stick-um stick-um . . . dah, dah, dah . . . stick-um etc. For a list of words with sufficient glue on their feet, consult Anchor Words by Arthur Bellamy. Hope this helps. Fred I do not wish my worms to be considered for annelid of the week. They are already so thin and emaciated. I can only pray for compost. | ||
| Howard R
Member Username: writerhoward Post Number: 71 Registered: 01-2009 |
Fred, I searched for Anchor Words by Arthur Bellamy in both Amazon and Google and came up blank. Howard (Message edited by writerhoward on March 27, 2009) | ||
| Judy Thompson
Advanced Member Username: judyt54 Post Number: 1432 Registered: 11-2007 |
Howard, sometimes Fred likes to make little jokes. Perhaps this is one of those times? Im not sayin', just suggestin'. Afraid of the Dark | ||
| Judy Thompson
Advanced Member Username: judyt54 Post Number: 1433 Registered: 11-2007 |
my favorite anecdote on line breaks in unrhymed poetry comes from a writer's festival I attended some years back. Poets were encouraged to send in work to be judged, and the winner got a nice prize and a small stipend. The judge of the contest, whose name eludes me at the moment, said, "I do wish you could see the line breaks in this winning entry, they are exquisite--and of course, when it's read aloud you can't appreciate them..." and right then i realized that line breaks are strictly visual. They are for the reader, not the listener, and as such are arbitrary. Knowing that helps to keep me from obsessing too much on what goes where, and frees me from the dreaded 'end word' problem. something to think about. Afraid of the Dark | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Moderator Username: garydawg Post Number: 27556 Registered: 07-2001 |
Howard, in general strong words, though the articles M cites gives reasons for others. Good luck. Smiles. Gary Celebrate Walt with Gary: http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm | ||
| Howard R
Member Username: writerhoward Post Number: 72 Registered: 01-2009 |
After giving the end-line issue more thought, it appears to me that the word that ends a line influences the line's effect. For example, here's the first stanza of William Carlos Williams' poem, Peace on Earth: The Archer is wake! The Swan is flying! Gold against blue An Arrow is lying. There is hunting in heaven— Sleep safe till tomorrow. If Williams had ended his lines this way, for example, it would have made a big difference in effect: The Archer is wake! The Swan is flying! Gold against blue An Arrow is lying. There is hunting in heaven— sleep safe till tomorrow. And, as Williams demonstrated, while first words can be important, they can easily be articles without impacting negatively on a poem's impact. (Message edited by writerhoward on March 27, 2009) |
