Punctuation question
What is poetry? Who knows?
Not a rose, but the scent of the rose;
Not the sky, but the light in the sky;
Not the fly, but the gleam of the fly:
Not the sea, but the sound of the sea;
Not myself, but what makes me
See, hear, and feel something that prose
Cannot: and what it is, who knows?
Why the colon is used before and?
Top answer
Anonymous Why the colon is used before and? It appears to be a typographical error; it should be replaced by a semicolon.
- Anonymous Why the colon is used before and?
- It appears to be a typographical error; it should be replaced by a semicolon.
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AnonymousWhy the colon is used before and?
It appears to be a typographical error; it should be replaced by a semicolon.
0The colon adds emphasis to what follows, which is the climax of the poem.
Be aware that this poem was written a long time ago and that fashions in punctuation change over time. Consider also that great poets usually do not feel bound by the so-called rules that lesser writers feel obliged to follow.
0The question asked was specifically about the colon in the last line. and that was what I addressed.
I didn't even notice that there was an earlier one, which I agree looks like a typo. It's not, for example, in this text link.
http://www2.nkfust.edu.tw/~emchen//Poetry.ht
0
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