10-11-2011, 05:42 PM
Plenty of other ways for you to look like a twat :p
To illustrate the difference in a line of poetry, compare:
the holding of hands to holding hands
or
the breaking of bread to breaking bread
A gerund is not wrong, nor should they automatically be removed from a poem -- they have a purpose, depending on the mood and connotations you wish a phrase to convey. Still, too much of anything in a small space becomes... well, too much.
To illustrate the difference in a line of poetry, compare:
the holding of hands to holding hands
or
the breaking of bread to breaking bread
A gerund is not wrong, nor should they automatically be removed from a poem -- they have a purpose, depending on the mood and connotations you wish a phrase to convey. Still, too much of anything in a small space becomes... well, too much.
It could be worse