Question

How did Modernist poets use ""white space"" to enhance the meaning of their works? (Mention at least three examples.)

Answer 1

Answer:

White Spaces in poems are simply spaces within a line of poetry, usually inserted as a guide to the reader on how to pace the reading of the poem.

It can also be used to modify the meaning of a poem or to elicit a "pause" and "reflection" from the reader.

White space is to a poet what the "pause for effect" is to the orator.

Explanation:

Don Paterson’s for instance in one of his works played a witty one with "white space".

He gives the poem a very long title (a 15-word caption which is uncommon with poems) then leaves the next page blank. Of course, this effect was very impactful and creative as if he intended to go instantly from a wordy sanguine to an introverted phlegmatic.

Annie Caldwell in an article "The White Space in Poetry" demonstrated the effect of white spaces by taking her old poem and rearranged it using white spaces without changing any of the words. The effect is that the poem took on a different meaning.

 Mark Strand, for instance, writes, in “Keeping Things Whole"

The first two lines are quick to strike at the title. Then there is a space before the as if asking the reader to pause and think.

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