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Chronic Pauser, please no applause!

Jerz, ''Poetry is for the Ear'' -- Jerz: EL150 (Intro to Literary Study)

"If you find yourself automatically pausing at the end of every line, regardless of whether the meaning of the poem calls for a pause at that point;..."

I have to admit that when I am reading and even writing poetry, I feel like the end of each line is a pause. I read poem by John Donne before reading over this page, and then again in this context, and let me tell you-it makes a HUGE difference if you pause in the right places. I guess I never realized how important the rhythm mattered in poetry and now I get that it mean EVERYTHING (in the lightest sense).


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Comments (2)

Margaret Jones:

I often find myself pausing at the end of each line just because we're so used to stopping after a line. However, anytime I do pause, I then have to go back to the verse and read the lines correctly following the punctuation for the pauses.

I know what you mean. I've always had that same problem too. It's amazing how much of a difference it makes when you pause in the right places. Unfortunately, it's often a hard habit to break.

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on February 25, 2007 4:48 PM.

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