This is not my usual style of writing but I offer no apology for the comments that I make.
I find myself getting more and more agitated when trying to read and digest the unbridled creativity of the wonderful WordPress family.
Having worked in design and page layout for many years and most likely combined with my autistic tendencies (undiagnosed), I see the pattern of words on a page as a piece of art as much as the content.
But, I often find the fastidious but more often misuse of capital letters at the beginning of each line of a poem most unnecessary and potentially ruinous to a perfect piece of writing.
Flow, rhythm and pace are so often tripped up by these large and sometimes unsightly characters when used in excess and in the wrong place. Perhaps an example might help, this is from a poem of mine, Winter:
White wastelands arrive that glisten like chocolate box tops,
for most, these are things of memory where the fantasy lives on, in our hopes.
But Autumn’s detritus stays on soaked now by dew and more often frost,
which means the coldest of season has arrived, the others, for now at least, lost.
Even without the punctuation as is the modern form, it still reads and flows as I intended but only because of not using all capitals:
White wastelands arrive that glisten like chocolate box tops
for most these are things of memory where the fantasy lives on in our hopes
But Autumn’s detritus stays on soaked now by dew and more often frost
which means the coldest of season has arrived, the others for now at least lost
Although I know it’s a combination of convention and generalisation, I would implore writers to look and caress the lines and forgo using the
Capital
On
Every
Line
Caress your words, feel them, let them flow unhindered and release the wonder of writing, let them be free as they would if they had the power to speak themselves.
I am open to discussion or argument of course.
Thank you.
Thank you, David. I am in agreement that not every lineof poetry should be capitalised. Another difficulty is deciding where to place line breaks, as a misplaced word can interrupt the flow. I also enjoy seeing the capitalised first person pronoun. x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I thought I might have been alone in the creative ocean. I do think it’s good to share as none of us are too old to learn something new.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of on the matter of line breaks, it’s all down to the pace of the piece, I often have very long lines or even let it turn into a prose poem with paragraphs instead. On the other hand, one word can make a line; feel the words and let them do their own creation.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for the suggestion to try a prose poem in paragraphs. I am working on one with just 100 words at the moment. I felt I should arrange it in two paragraphs. But of course having little experience, I was undecided as to whether to call it a poem. Thank you again for responding. x
LikeLike
No problem. I love the 100 word format, it make you concentrate to make the point. I have been accused of being too wordy in the past and the drabble has made me think about my writing so much more.
LikeLike
I see the pattern of words as art also – especially with poetry.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I didn’t mean to be derogatory it was just a thought, he words are the same and always so well put together.
LikeLike