Punctuating Poetry is something that involves poetic license; meaning, any punctuation in poetry is acceptable, even if it is not 'proper' punctuation. There are no set rules on how to punctuate poetry in a book. (No matter what Mr. Know it All Poet might tell you ...)
Yet, as an editor of poetry, I do have my opinion about how to properly punctuate poetry in a book. The main concern should be consistency. That's not to say each and every poem in a poetry book should be punctuated the same manner, but, that each poem should have consistency, therein.
For example; If you are editing a poem, and it contains punctuation, such as periods, exclamation marks and question marks, at the end of the sentences, yet, none of the sentences begin with a capitalization. THAT is an example of inconsistent punctuation within a poem.
If you choose to use punctuation within a poem, make sure to also capitalize the first letter of the word following the punctuation. If however, you find that you've attempted to punctuate your poem and it just isn't justifying the flow that you wish to represent, then you may remove all of the punctuation, and that is acceptable, because it is consistent. In this case, letting the readers know where to pause in a poem's sentence can be accomplished by line breaks.
Whether or not you choose to use punctuation in your poetry, you may capitalize the first letter of the beginning word of each line of your poem. Decide how you want your poems to come across to the reader and which style of punctuation, or non- punctuation suits your poem's style. If you capitalize the first word of a poem and only add one period at the end of the poem, six stanzas later, this is an example of poor punctuation!
Help stop reader frustration, and punctuate well!
Yet, as an editor of poetry, I do have my opinion about how to properly punctuate poetry in a book. The main concern should be consistency. That's not to say each and every poem in a poetry book should be punctuated the same manner, but, that each poem should have consistency, therein.
For example; If you are editing a poem, and it contains punctuation, such as periods, exclamation marks and question marks, at the end of the sentences, yet, none of the sentences begin with a capitalization. THAT is an example of inconsistent punctuation within a poem.
If you choose to use punctuation within a poem, make sure to also capitalize the first letter of the word following the punctuation. If however, you find that you've attempted to punctuate your poem and it just isn't justifying the flow that you wish to represent, then you may remove all of the punctuation, and that is acceptable, because it is consistent. In this case, letting the readers know where to pause in a poem's sentence can be accomplished by line breaks.
Whether or not you choose to use punctuation in your poetry, you may capitalize the first letter of the beginning word of each line of your poem. Decide how you want your poems to come across to the reader and which style of punctuation, or non- punctuation suits your poem's style. If you capitalize the first word of a poem and only add one period at the end of the poem, six stanzas later, this is an example of poor punctuation!
Help stop reader frustration, and punctuate well!
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