11-03-2011, 09:11 AM
I think you have to differentiate between three broad classes of "mis-use"
1. The deliberate breaking of rules, by people who fully understand them, to achieve specifically desired effects. That is, in a word, art. And the people who can pull it off are the greatest of artists (and poets).
2. The uncaring breaking of rules by people who think they're unimportant. That is, simply, amateurish. It shows a lack of respect for oneself and one's readers.
3. The unknowing breaking of rules by the uneducated. [No value judgement there, particularly over grammar which is not taught anywhere near as rigorously as it once was and which is subject to all manner of exceptions.] I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with that, particularly if it is corrected once it is pointed out. [And any poet who is taking the art remotely seriously will learn from their mistakes.]
1. The deliberate breaking of rules, by people who fully understand them, to achieve specifically desired effects. That is, in a word, art. And the people who can pull it off are the greatest of artists (and poets).
2. The uncaring breaking of rules by people who think they're unimportant. That is, simply, amateurish. It shows a lack of respect for oneself and one's readers.
3. The unknowing breaking of rules by the uneducated. [No value judgement there, particularly over grammar which is not taught anywhere near as rigorously as it once was and which is subject to all manner of exceptions.] I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with that, particularly if it is corrected once it is pointed out. [And any poet who is taking the art remotely seriously will learn from their mistakes.]
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."