Punctuation in poetry serves to encapsulate thoughts and ideas; to aid in coherence of the poet's meaning; and to signal when and where to pause, for emphasis and musicality.
A well-placed comma (or, conversely, a glaringly absent period), can change the cadence, implication, and intonation of a poem. However, there are other ways of dividing up or giving rhythm to text besides the well-placed comma: the ellipse, the dash, and other kinds of punctuation dispersed within the text can also be effective in showcasing a poet's implication and intonation.
Response Stance
Discuss the sense of each of the poem's musicality, sound, rhythm, and use of space.
Reflect on the poems' use of, or lack thereof, capitals or punctuation and how does each poet's use of punctuation emphasis their commentary about their life and society.
Invite yourself, as writers of poetry, to discard conventional rules of punctuation and capitalization, to mess around with or without them – to experiment radically with form, punctuation, spelling and syntax, abandoning traditional techniques and structures to create a new, highly idiosyncratic means of poetic expression.
Elementary Response to the poetry of e.e. cummings and Emily Dickinson
Middle Level Response to the poetry of e.e. cummings
