A: that semi-colon really rubs me the wrong way.
B: what would rub you the right way?
A: probably a comma... or some moist orifice.
B: hahaha... hrmmmm ill try putting it in a moist orifice.
A: you definitely should, although i'm not sure if you meant "putting IT in..." or "putting in..."
B: oh, whoops.
A: but you should give it a go either way.
B: well if the moist orifice doesnt work, i think im gonna favor the semicolon over the comma. it precedes a complete independent clause; a comma would create a comma splice. even if we don't care about grammar in poetry, i think it would send the wrong signal to the reader, who might think that "I" am also learned by rote.
A: "where every place is a line in the poem, / learned by rote" isn't an independent clause.
B: oh, i see what causes the problem... what precedes that part of the poem makes an independent clause.
A: ah! problem solved. still, i'd like your poetry to include more moist orifices and less semi-colons.
B: my poetry contains plenty of moist orifices; this is a rare poem that doesn't. now that you mention it, what preceedes the semicolon is not in fact an independent clause and i dont like the first semicolon in that stanza for the reason you mentioned. it shall be replaced with a moist orifice.
A: fantastic! glad to have an influence on your work. i gotta go to the airport now, but i do hope to "talk" to you again soon. ciao, dog chow.
B: cat chow.
* * *
Visit J. Roscoe & D. Feinstein's blog for great writing and deep thoughts.
For more on the rise of the semi-colon, read this New York Times article.
Other punctuation articles worth reading include:
-this New Yorker article against Eats, Shoots & Leaves
-this AP article on the problems with apostrophes, hyphens, and spaces in surnames today
2 comments:
Hahah your name reads "Matteo underscore Matteo". I really loved your chat; however, it was truely silly. The things I loved about your chat were: the cat, the chow, the dog and the oriface. The end.
Truely = Truly
Post a Comment