line breaks

euphrosene · Jan 11, 2007

I started to write poetry last year and am planning to do a course soon to discipline my mind and aid learning.

The poems I have written so far (all rather short!) do have a rhythm. Some even have line breaks. But the line breaks are part of the rhythm.

In trying to learn, I have been reading the poems of many others and, if I am honest, there are all too many poems I simply do not understand.

I have counted the metres and cannot understand why there are line breaks in some. It could be a word or two, but it makes no sense unless you read it flowing on.

Maybe it's just me.

It is more understandable if there is metric flow, but freeform AND lines breaks seem a tad pretentious.

Should I duck now?

Cheers Euphrosene

William Haskins · Jan 11, 2007

euphrosene said:
It is more understandable if there is metric flow, but freeform AND lines breaks seem a tad pretentious.

example?

euphrosene · Jan 11, 2007

Can I come back to you on this? There are several I read about a month or so ago... and I need to dig them out again.

I do apologise if that sounds like heresy.

William Haskins · Jan 11, 2007

not at all, but it would be helpful to see an example so we can perhaps analyze the poet's motivation.

euphrosene · Jan 12, 2007

William Haskins said:
not at all, but it would be helpful to see an example so we can perhaps analyze the poet's motivation.

There are currently fifteen books of poetry on the floor next to my desk... and I am drastically behind schedule on various items, so it is unlikely I will be typing up a whole poem for analysing right now.

I evidently need to read more on poetry comprehension as I would have separated soul motivation from metric motivation.

William Haskins · Jan 12, 2007

it has nothing to do with "soul" motivation. if i understand you correctly, you're saying that line breaks serve only a metric purpose and are, otherwise, pretense.

i'm simply saying that line breaks can be related to the subject matter, visual presentation, etc.

okay...

anyway, if you can identify a poem that serves as an example of what you're talking about, just note it here in the thread. i can do the legwork to get it posted for analysis.

Stew21 · Jan 12, 2007

I guess I don't really understand the question. I've read through this a couple of times and still can't figure it out.
counting out the meter? It almost never has anything to do with where I will break a line. (though the rhythm of a poem is important, I think it can flow quite naturally without counting syllables) words together or individually have a natural beat to them, I think, and a line break for a phrase, a complete sentence or even just one word often has more to do with "punching" the meaning through - or at least the relevance of a particular phrase (making it important) than it has to do with counting syllables and figuring out where the "up beat" is. It determines the speed of the reading in some cases as well. I contribute punctuation more to stop of flow than line breaks, I flow right through line breaks very often. I happen to use a lot of them, so maybe I am the wrong person to answer this? Or Maybe I am way off in my interpretation of the question?

euphrosene · Jan 15, 2007

William Haskins said:
it has nothing to do with "soul" motivation. if i understand you correctly, you're saying that line breaks serve only a metric purpose and are, otherwise, pretense.

i'm simply saying that line breaks can be related to the subject matter, visual presentation, etc.

okay...

anyway, if you can identify a poem that serves as an example of what you're talking about, just note it here in the thread. i can do the legwork to get it posted for analysis.

Immediate Examples

'Don't say I said' and 'Anyone can draw a line' by Sophie Hannah

btw I take your point about the imagery of line breaks, but I was referring to pieces that read like prose. The pauses that come with some 'line breaks' appear to make no sense and can even spoil any enjoyment because the reader is looking for motivation in why there is one (line break).

There are others but these serve well enough....

euphrosene · Jan 15, 2007

Stew21 said:
I guess I don't really understand the question. I've read through this a couple of times and still can't figure it out.
counting out the meter? It almost never has anything to do with where I will break a line. (though the rhythm of a poem is important, I think it can flow quite naturally without counting syllables) words together or individually have a natural beat to them, I think, and a line break for a phrase, a complete sentence or even just one word often has more to do with "punching" the meaning through - or at least the relevance of a particular phrase (making it important) than it has to do with counting syllables and figuring out where the "up beat" is. It determines the speed of the reading in some cases as well. I contribute punctuation more to stop of flow than line breaks, I flow right through line breaks very often. I happen to use a lot of them, so maybe I am the wrong person to answer this? Or Maybe I am way off in my interpretation of the question?

Yes.

As a non-poet, to me the rhythm and the metre can be the same.

If an odd word is chucked on to a new line, and the poem is written in freeform ie with NO accepted metric form, then it would seem to be a matter of style. And style can alienate as well as attract.

euphrosene · Jan 15, 2007

PS Have just written what I wrote again.... and it makes perfect sense to me :*)

Metric form can sometimes dictate line breaks. So can natural rhythm or making a particular point.

I was referring to line breaks that do not obviously appear to fit any of those categories.

Should poems be easy to read and/or understand?

Should reading them mean questioning the motivation rather than empathising with the condensed story?