You are right, just get them all down capitalized, :-)
On Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 12:16 AM, David Bircumshaw <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 'boustrophedon', Anny, 'ox-turning', with lines going left-right,
> right-left
> etc. The stone inscriptions that survive are all in capitals though (!)
> best
>
> dave
>
> 2009/6/16 Anny Ballardini <[log in to unmask]>
>
> > Hi Stephen,
> >
> > I agree that there is something wrong with that field. If we wish to
> accept
> > the metaphor of the furrows being drawn then we should have lines like
> the
> > following:
> >
> > |____________________________
> >
> > _____________________________|
> >
> > |____________________________
> >
> > _____________________________|
> >
> > |____________________________
> >
> > _____________________________|
> >
> >
> > by which each turn of the plow is marked by a Capital Letter, but
> unluckily
> > we write only from left to right and such a meandering on the paper is
> not
> > contemplated by our logic.
> >
> > We could write a line followed by the style Leonardo used in writing his
> > notes from right to left, that could be... to respect the organization of
> > Agriculture and in the spirit of an harmonious Growth of Knowledge.
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 8:01 PM, Stephen Vincent <[log in to unmask]
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks for all of these, Anny.
> > >
> > > This last comment on Caxton and the use of caps - which I suspect is
> when
> > > the switch went over from the Gothic faces (as used, for example in the
> > > Guttenberg Bible) to the Roman faces. The faces add a new look with
> Aldus
> > > Manutius's "Aldus" italic face (whose compression made it possible to
> > > produce pocket size books for the traveling bourgeois) Ironically,
> Aldus'
> > > publication in italic of Virgil's "Opera" still maintains the
> convention
> > of
> > > beginning each line with a roman Cap - definitely drawing attention to
> a
> > > "turn" in the line.
> > > Another thought I have is that these cap's also echoed and formally
> > > re-enforced the large, often gold embossed and variously colored
> Capital
> > > letters that typically initiated the first lines of poems and/or
> sections
> > of
> > > the longer poems.
> > >
> > > If we switched the metaphor from the lines in a farmer's field, to the
> > > weaving loom (as another way or metaphor/analog for looking at the
> > printed
> > > poem) the caps correspond to a knot or double loop that holds and fixes
> > the
> > > start of a new thread going across the loom. The metaphor breaks down
> if
> > > it's true that you have to put a knot at the other end of the line in
> > order
> > > to soldify the transition to the new line! But that I think is a
> > problem
> > > for the contemporary poem in which each line (a la Fanny Howe) is
> started
> > > with a cap. I think Fanny is often interested in the disjuncture from
> one
> > > line to the next with which she shifts the direction and eye of the
> poem.
> > > Without a distinct knot or Cap at the end of the line, and a refusal to
> > use
> > > a period, the poem then relies for its abrupt line break on the blank,
> > > marginal space and the Cap that initiates the next line.
> > >
> > > I remember Cumming's big popularity in the late 50's and 60's. Many of
> > the
> > > young wrote poems, correspondence, etc. without a Capital in sight - a
> > kind
> > > of rebellion against all those rotten, ruling hierarchies, 'grammar
> moms'
> > > and the rest. It took awhile to realize the caps were a way of
> making
> > > distinctions, and added a genuine texture to the printed page. No Caps
> > > ultimately made for a flat playing field. All spinach and no cornstalks
> > or
> > > sunflowers!
> > >
> > > Stephen V
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > In fact, the convention of capitalizing the first word of a line was
> not
> > > firmly established until the late fifteenth century when William Caxton
> > > became the first printer of books in England. The capitalizing of the
> > first
> > > word in a line hearkens to the roots of the word "verse" (from the
> Latin
> > > "versus") which refers to the furrow a plow or hoe makes in a field.
> One
> > > row
> > > in a field turns back to another row ("versus" literally means
> "turning")
> > > and the lines of a poem were likened to such rows. The beginning of a
> > "row"
> > > in a poem was noted by a capital letter. Indeed a poem typically
> returns
> > to
> > > the left margin so that the lines are uniform the way the rows of a
> field
> > > are uniform. This may seem far-fetched but it is a convention to which
> > the
> > > majority of poets have subscribed over centuries. They like how the
> > capital
> > > letter declares a new line; how it increases the sense of the ine as a
> > > distinct, rhythmic unit; and how it promotes a uniformity that igves
> the
> > > poem a decidedly polished look. No vagaries need apply.
> > > Many poets to not adhere to this convention. [...]
> > > This attitude toward capital letters in poetry, has become common and
> was
> > > pioneered by e.e.cummings in the 1920s.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Anny Ballardini
> > > http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
> > > http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
> > > http://www.lulu.com/content/5806078
> > > http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
> > > I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
> > > star!
> > > Friedrich Nietzsche
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Anny Ballardini
> > http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
> > http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
> > http://www.lulu.com/content/5806078
> > http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
> > I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
> > star!
> > Friedrich Nietzsche
> >
>
>
>
> --
> David Bircumshaw
> "Nothing can be done in the face
> of ordinary unhappiness" - PP
> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
> The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
>
--
Anny Ballardini
http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
http://www.lulu.com/content/5806078
http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
star!
Friedrich Nietzsche
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