In some poems a forward slash (/) is used in lines where a line break would otherwise be used. What it this supposed to mean and why do it? e.g.

This is a poem / with broken lines
and forward slashes / that seem to mean
the same thing.

I've seen it in quiet a few poems and it seems to have no purpose in reading (except that it makes it harder to see the flow than a break).

I typically see this when a reviewer is quoting the poem in a review or essay, wants to indicate where the line breaks are, and they don't want to reformat the paragraph.

I have seen it used in a few poems -- if I'm not mistaken, Daphne Gottleib uses it on occasion. For me, it seems to create a more disjointed experience -- which, in some cases, is exactly what the poet wants. But I'm not sure if there's another purpose behind it.

I've seen this in magazines and newspapers, for the first reason Tony mentioned. Usually within the context of a review. Space is at a premium there, so compromise has to be made.

If used as punctuation in a poem, it's pretty much a stopper for me.
It is too self conscious for me to read around, or to simply take as a "stage direction" as I do other types of punctuation. Part of that is training, maybe... what a person is used to. But it is not something that I feel should ever be used interchangeably with a line break.
That said, there are times it might work in the context of a particular poem.

It's a risk, I think. It's rather "device-y".

Yeah, that's my feeling too. Some of Daphne's work uses it very effectively -- she creates a sort of stream of consciousness feel with it that allows her to string together a lot of disjointed images and create a sense of immersion in a complex experience. But in general, it's got to be used judiciously.

I used it a bit years ago... this poem for instance:

www.gotpoetry.com/Poem...=2891.html

In the above poem I used the / because I wanted the poem to look a certain way on the page.

I like poetry that uses the space on the page and even punctuation to add to it visually...


evening a letter V

birds like

flying




I like the shapes words make... I am often tempted to add odd punctuation but haven't for years.... I cannot stop doing dots...

I am thankful I am able to leave them out of my poems, but boy it's tough, all that editing!!!

Hmmm sorry have I hijacked this? I find the /'s kinda hard to read at times but I do like how they look if the spacing is good between the lines

I've used that forward slash in only one or two poems of mine before. My reason was to signal the reader that the lines connected by the forward slash were to be read a little bit faster than lines separated by "normal" punctuation, but not as fast as what some people accomplish by removing the spaces between the words in a phrase. I've seen poets do that, too.

i have seen it used by many poets quite successfully. it works great for list poems. i read one once about beauty rituals that was great that way. it can be used to accentuate the beat of a piece ( the drip / drip / drip / drip / of the leaky air conditioner). or to make a particular idea stand out on a line, for example when the poet is repeating a couple words (he licked the bottom of the stool / licked / like it was an ice cream cone...) it can make one speed up and smush the words together ( the no good / back stabbing / man stealing / s.o.b) lots of reason for it, and it often works. e.e. cummings used it too.

i like it, but i rarely use it myself except when quoting another poem and i just don't feel like replicating its look.

On behalf of broken crust, I am grateful for everyone who replied. I never knew the forward slash is such a useful tool for poetry. I can't wait to try that one out. I'm just a beginner.

Thanks to everyone who relied (it the forums reshuffle I lost this thread). It's interesting to see what people use it for. I get the space saving idea in articles but for me the slash is like a horrible barrier in the line and I don't think that I would use it myself intentionally. It looks and feels wrong, although Mayo put a strong case for it, I'd have used a - or -- or ... or a semi-colon or comma instead of a slash.

It seams like punctuation in poetry is a bit of a free for all / rules torn up / optional kinda thing (trying it for size ). This might be great for the expressionist poet but for readers it's a double edged sword where meaning and flow often lack clarity.