there's nothing that shouldn't appear in poetry that can't be used to make a
poem good. brackets can be used well.
I have a sort of gentle dislike for them, because I have the mental/aural
idea of something in brackets (unlike a non-bracketed 'aside') having to be
pronounced in a sort of hurried whisper, in order for the course of the poem
(or whatever) to continue on its 'proper' path. it's a pause in the middle
of something, and not usually in a stylish or forgiveable way -- for me.
I don't like generalising though. no device on its own is bad and no device
should be disallowed or considered unusable off the bat. any dislike on my
part is pure personal opinion, with little basis beyond simple experience.
I'd like to add, still in my opinion, that Cummings uses brackets in the
most intriguing, poetic, honest -- the 'best' -- way possible
KS
On 10/11/06, Joanna Boulter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> 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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