02-21-2012, 03:00 PM
I have one hard and fast rule, and that is:
Learn the rules, then you'll know how and why to break them.
Accidentally buggerising around with grammar just to avoid doing things in a "schoolteacherish" fashion is not a good enough reason -- in poems, not only does every word count but also every space, dot and squiggle. Altering grammar conventions only has the desired effect when it's clear that's what you're doing, so then the reader will (usually) examine your reasons for doing so and find additional layers or subtleties to the poem -- if it only happens because you're ignorant of the way things are usually done, or because you saw it in someone else's poem and thought it was cool without having any idea why, or because you're too lazy to bother punctuating and using capital letters, then it's not subversive or avant garde, it's just irritating.
While strict grammar might enhance clarity on a quick skim-through (and it does), so deliberately changing the rules can draw attention to certain areas and may in fact enhance clarity even more... done properly, that is, and assuming that the reader knows his/her grammar in the first place!
Learn the rules, then you'll know how and why to break them.
Accidentally buggerising around with grammar just to avoid doing things in a "schoolteacherish" fashion is not a good enough reason -- in poems, not only does every word count but also every space, dot and squiggle. Altering grammar conventions only has the desired effect when it's clear that's what you're doing, so then the reader will (usually) examine your reasons for doing so and find additional layers or subtleties to the poem -- if it only happens because you're ignorant of the way things are usually done, or because you saw it in someone else's poem and thought it was cool without having any idea why, or because you're too lazy to bother punctuating and using capital letters, then it's not subversive or avant garde, it's just irritating.
While strict grammar might enhance clarity on a quick skim-through (and it does), so deliberately changing the rules can draw attention to certain areas and may in fact enhance clarity even more... done properly, that is, and assuming that the reader knows his/her grammar in the first place!
It could be worse