Sentence punctuation in poetry

[Dreamlily2756]

Hi. I was reading about what is considered "proper" use of punctuation in poetry, such as the end of a line. Basically, it appears that it is mostly up to the poet and how they wish the reader to "pause" or read the poem with a continuous flow. I tend to use commas where I expect a reader to pause before reading the next line and semi-colons when I want them to "relate" the next line to the previous one (basically I try to use typical grammar rules I guess). That being said, I recently had someone question why I ended a poem with my last line punctuated with "!?" Perhaps I should have ended it instead like "?!" In any case, I know what I was trying to convey, but I am now wondering how I explain it to that person OR if it's even proper?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Hi. I was reading about what is considered "proper" use of punctuation in poetry, such as the end of a line. Basically, it appears that it is mostly up to the poet and how they wish the reader to "pause" or read the poem with a continuous flow. I tend to use commas where I expect a reader to pause before reading the next line and semi-colons when I want them to "relate" the next line to the previous one (basically I try to use typical grammar rules I guess). That being said, I recently had someone question why I ended a poem with my last line punctuated with "!?" Perhaps I should have ended it instead like "?!" In any case, I know what I was trying to convey, but I am now wondering how I explain it to that person OR if it's even proper?

There are no "proper" rules in poetry, for punctuation or anything else, unless you are specifically writing a poem style that has them (like, say, sonnet, and maybe not even then). Use the comas where you feel are needed, or not - pretty much, what you described sounds like the way they should be used: to give a few clues as to where you feel the pauses are in your poem. But always remember Gertrude Stein's opinion on commas: "commas are servile they have no life of their own they are dependent upon use and convenience and they are put there just for practical purposes" (source (http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/goldsmith/works/stein.pdf)).

Equally, if someone asks why you used !?, then they presumably didn't understand the emotion of the poem, but I'm not sure emotions can be explained, so not sure I can help you there. From a practical perspective, if you still feel it should be changed, I suggest the interrobang (‽), which sidesteps the need to decide which component goes first.

Grey Wolf

[Thialfi]

Emily Dickinson says "we don't need no stinkin punctuation rules."

[Donnadogsoth]

Hi. I was reading about what is considered "proper" use of punctuation in poetry, such as the end of a line. Basically, it appears that it is mostly up to the poet and how they wish the reader to "pause" or read the poem with a continuous flow. I tend to use commas where I expect a reader to pause before reading the next line and semi-colons when I want them to "relate" the next line to the previous one (basically I try to use typical grammar rules I guess). That being said, I recently had someone question why I ended a poem with my last line punctuated with "!?" Perhaps I should have ended it instead like "?!" In any case, I know what I was trying to convey, but I am now wondering how I explain it to that person OR if it's even proper?

I see two schools of thought here. One is the "2Kool4Roolz" school which says any type of punctuation for poetry is vaid--and, of course, also says that anything can be poetry, including a wasps' nest glued to the page. Bzz bzz bzz.

Two is the "poetry is heightened prose" school, which says that poems should be punctuated as if they were prose. Here you have Shakespeare for company.

Try writing out your poem without the line breaks, writing it out as if it were just proper sentenced prose, and that may help you decide on the best punctuation to use.

[JoshL]

If there were strict formatting rules for poetry, there would be no e e cummings. Take that as a plus or minus as you will :smallwink:

Seriously though, every publication has different guidelines for what they will or will not accept. If you want to be free/creative with your use of space and punctuation (and there are lots of reasons to want to) you'll want to check where you're going to submit to. If publication is not your concern, then there is no reason to write it any way other than how you want to!

[Telonius]

Emily Dickinson says "we don't need no stinkin punctuation rules."

e e cummings gives her a high five