Interesting. I guess the question is, can you hear brackets? Also, unlike
dashes, an opening bracket demands a closing bracket, whereas unclosed
parentheses--
Here's one by Emily Dickenson (#341):
After great pain, a formal feeling comes--
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs--
The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,
And Yesterday, or Centuries before?
The Feet, mechanical, go round--
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought--
A Wooden way
Regardless grown,
A Quartz contentment, like a stone--
This is the Hour of Lead--
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow--
First--Chill--then Stupor--then the letting go-
P
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to
> poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Joanna Boulter
> Sent: 10 November 2006 12:38
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Brackets in poetry
>
> Hi there everybody -- a friend has just told me that at a
> recent workshop she attended it was suggested that brackets
> should not appear in poetry. She says she's had "a quick look
> through various anthologies and can confirm that they are
> rare, although not non-existent."
>
> Do petc members agree with this dictum, and if so, on what
> basis? I myself have found quite a few examples in recent
> poetry, but in actual collections rather than anthologies.
> Also, does the use of two dashes as a framing device, in the
> same way as parentheses, come under the same embargo? I
> suspect that one's quite common these days.
>
> best joanna
>
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