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lepperochan
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was wondering: have noticed over the last couple of years that poets are omitting the word 'I' from lines even though the lines refer to the I who writes them

why is this ?


poet Anonymous

lepperochan said:was wondering: have noticed over the last couple of years that poets are omitting the word 'I' from lines even though the lines refer to the I who writes them

why is this ?



It's an attempt to distance perspective would be my best guess.

lepperochan
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ahh, fair point. I thought maybe it was some kinda trend even though poets don't like getting caught up in trends
do you think it works, I mean "attempt" doesn't sound like you're convinced

I think it can work sometimes, depending on the sentence

"saw a kid today"  could mean the author is condoing sawing a kid etc

Jade-Pandora
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lepperochan said:was wondering: have noticed over the last couple of years that poets are omitting the word 'I' from lines even though the lines refer to the I who writes them

why is this ?



Respectfully, I've been a poet for a long time and I've never tried to avoid using "I", deliberately omitting it to say something more abrupt like "Dunno.".  I follow no trends, but it could be the generation that's writing that way these days... dunno.  

kmart2013
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Maybe because that's just how it sounds In their head.
I think I've left out the "I" in the start of the sentence before; however I am 20 years old, so it could just be my generation! Ha ha

I'm not a good poet really. I just write to keep me sane sometimes. So maybe I disregard the "I" because I don't think too long about the poem I wrote and that's just how it sounded in my head and it would have sounded weird with it.. But that's just me.. ha ha :)

rabbitquest
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One can only speculate on what is being noticed as a statistically significant observation. From the perspective of this commentor, he has not heretofore taken notice of this trend that has been spoken of here.

lepperochan
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fair nuts

there's a couple of things which might be contributing factors:

a poet may be watching the word count. every word needs to count type thing

a poet might not like using I because too many of them may give a poem a me me me type air to it, omitting the I's might offset the air

Its not a universal thing among poetry, and I should say that apart from some books I come across, the only place I read poems is here on this site

lepperochan
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kmart2013 said:Maybe because that's just how it sounds In their head.
I think I've left out the "I" in the start of the sentence before; however I am 20 years old, so it could just be my generation! Ha ha

I'm not a good poet really. I just write to keep me sane sometimes. So maybe I disregard the "I" because I don't think too long about the poem I wrote and that's

just how it sounded in my head and it would have sounded weird with it.. But that's just me.. ha ha :)


I do it myself sometimes. to be perfectly honest I only started doing it when I saw others doing it. ...yes, cos i am that easily lead

lepperochan
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rabbitquest said:One can only speculate on what is being noticed as a statistically significant observation. From the perspective of this commentor, he has not heretofore taken notice of this trend that has been spoken of here.r

I would speculate the aforementioned trend and subsequent notice of may be a matter of the subconscious now. next time the I's are omitted from a poem (hereafter named 'blind poetry ' )  you read, it will register

you're welcome

Viddax
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'I' when repeated can be rather annoying and self-centred, and a detracting in a poem where the me or you or I is merely a point of reference, and the not the poem's main point. It could also be something to do with the lack of synonyms and other words that can fulfil the same role; why confuse the reader when you can simply omit it altogether.
Or, that key is broken.
The I's don't have it!

calamitygin
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Think Kmart has a point guys, may be poetry is changing and simply reflecting the way we speak...speach is getting less formal, less needed, and fewer words period.
Poetry from different eras reflects different speach patterns.

Could just be!

Dunno...
Just a thought...

mebo
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In addition to reflecting how we think and perhaps speak, it's a way of narrowing the focus to the essential; the I is sort of a given so, why must we say it, when the pespective is obvious?  I often omit a lot of words which are not essential to my message; it's sort of like making flourless brownies.  Makes for a denser experience altogether.  I don't do that because anyone said to; I do it while I am editing and I suppose I am trying to carve away everthing that is not essential to the heart of my message. Like getting to the bones, I guess.

calamitygin
Jennifer Michael McCurry
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I agree Mebo, sometimes thats exactly it. I don't think it's abrupt, just more power in brevity serves the poet well.
Very well said.

anonymouslyhere
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"saw a kid today"  could mean the author is condoing sawing a kid etc [/quote]

Lol I about fell out of my chair laughing! It's true though.

lepperochan
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calamitygin said:Think Kmart has a point guys, may be poetry is changing and simply reflecting the way we speak...speach is getting less formal, less needed, and fewer words period.
Poetry from different eras reflects different speach patterns.

Could just be!

Dunno...
Just a thought...



fair points

there are those who would say speech is more needed than ever. especially in the context of families and home etc

I think maybe its one thing to read and write blind poetry, it is as pointed (mostly) easy to see the perspective ...but I would imagine there would be a lot of confusion if people started omitting I's from actual speak

...apart from that "I" and "me" are an integral part of some generations dialect

I was thinking maybe if words are less needed, p'raps we are on our way back to communicating with primal guttural sounds  ..or maybe hopefully a kind of advanced dolphin speak

Indeed there are parts of the world which have tuts and clicks as part of their vocabulary

dunno what that would mean for writing though

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