Punctuation In Poetry

It’s easy to just ignore punctuation and just say it’s your style to leave it all out. I know… because I have for years! Hey… that’s just my style! 

However, as I’ve gotten older, I have found that the use of particular punctuation marks really help the reader to separate ideas, organize flow, and accentuate particular themes. 

One thing that has always got me is what the difference is between colons and semicolons. Semicolons (;) are used between two complete sentences. They simply take the place of conjunctions like and, but, so, or, nor, for, yet… and so on. Colons (:) are used at the end of a statement to introduce a list of related ideas.  So there definitely is a difference.

Commas (,) might also introduce a quagmire… yet they aren’t all that complex. They simply separate words and phrases before a conjunction (like and or but), as well as separated introductory phrases such as “Before the game, I got a hot dog”.

Dashes (-) can be used as commas- but they should be used discretely. Another matter of style there! They look just like hyphens (-) which pair compound words like merry-go-round or user-friendly.

Many of these are more geared toward writing outside of poetry, yet it is good to be aware of what you can use to elevate your writing when you are a poet.

Question marks (?) are used in poetry for dramatic effect at the end of a sentence or phrase in an interrogative (or inquiring) manner. Exclamation marks (!) also place a dramatic effect in an exclamatory way… to stress passion or urgency. Look out!

Apostrophes (‘) are used to mark possession. You put the apostrophe after a plural noun such as “students’ grades” as opposed to one “student’s grades”. They replace words as in  “Johnny’s”, meaning “Johnny is…” They can also mark contractions and quotations within quotations. 

Quotation marks (“) surround words or phrases to inform the reader of something spoken or copied, as well as to quote as unique or ironic. In poetic prose, they always go BEFORE the period.

Ellipsis (…) is a curious beast. It marks the omission of a word or words. The use of it as a pause is not really grammatically correct, though I think that the ever changing grammatical world we live in considers its use to indicate there is more to be said… especially within the texting format. I use it as a dramatic pause in my poems- it’s simply another matter of style, really.

I’ve not seen much use of parentheses () in poetry, though it can be incorporated. They are usually utilized for information that is not essential (but a good footnote) to a sentence. See how I did that?! 

Lastly, minimizing capital letters tends to annoy grammatical purists. Using capital letters is proper and I will not refute that. However, it is also a manner of style. I personally do this too. It’s bad I know. But what the hey, it worked for e.e. cummings!

These punctuation marks are more than just doodles on a keyboard! They are ammunition to use in knocking down obstructions of understanding between the poet and the reader. When you know how to properly use punctuation marks, it only increases the tools you need to get your message successfully clear and precise.

I hope this is helpful! Please feel free to add anything I may have missed, and thanks for reading!

Matt Elmore