Exclaim & Proclaim!

The first post of International Punctuation Awareness Month (IPAM) brings us the infamous exclamation mark.

I’ve seen it in page poetry on the rare occasion. But it seems to dot the end of sentences in stage poetry far more often. Why? Because we exclaim and proclaim! It’s only natural, especially when putting on some sort of performance and tapping into emotion.

So then why is the exclamation mark so cringe-worthy?

The addition of an exclamation mark seems to cheese up the line, almost as if it then displays too much emotion. But it is still used, and by big name poets, too. In fact, one of my favorite poems has three embedded in a modern sonnet.

RITA DOVE

Persephone Falling

One narcissus among the ordinary beautiful
flowers, one unlike all the others! She pulled,
stooped to pull harder—
when, sprung out of the earth
on his glittering terrible
carriage, he claimed his due.
It is finished. No one heard her.
No one! She had strayed from the herd.

(Remember: go straight to school.
This is important, stop fooling around!
Don’t answer to strangers. Stick
with your playmates. Keep your eyes down.)
This is how easily the pit
opens. This is how one foot sinks into the ground.

Rita Dove isn’t just some random amateur pulled from a high school auditorium. She has served as a Poet Laureate—the first African American to have been appointed under the title. She’s also the second African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for poetry; now, countless collections later, Dove teaches at the University of Virginia. (I’m a little bit of a fan, if you couldn’t tell.)

The point is this: if she can pull off three exclamation marks in a brilliant poem, what are the rest of us doing? Are we looking at exclamation points the wrong way?

Let’s just take a moment to look back over the poem. The use of each results in remarkably different effects, but all are used for tone.

EXCLAMATION #1
“One narcissus among the ordinary beautiful / flowers, one unlike all the others!”
How is it perceived? As the first line of a poem, it’s there to make a statement. It’s proclaiming a fact, a hyperbole claimed to be true. The exclamation point colors in this exaggeration while maintaining a semblance of satire on Dove’s part and wonder on the subject’s behalf. After all, it must be one hell of a flower to get Persephone to stray from her mother’s warnings.

EXCLAMATION #2
“It is finished. No one heard her. / No one! She had strayed from the herd.”
This one brings a sense of finality and disbelief, especially following the scene of Persephone’s fall, captured by Hades. It’s less sarcastic. It’s there for a longer pause to let the reader catch up. It’s there purely for effect. But then, you could ask, couldn’t a line break create the same pause? Probably. But would it fit the poem? How would it alter the already superb line choices?

EXCLAMATION #3
“Remember: go straight to school. / This is important, stop fooling around! / Don’t answer to strangers.”
Here we get voice. As soon as your eye lands on that exclamation mark, you can just hear your parents reprimanding you in their best strict voice, can’t you? This is the part of a sonnet where a shift occurs. A voice takes over and the tone changes, strengthens in its purpose. Without the exclamation, that shift is much more subtle, almost to the point where it is no longer successful.

A proposed challenge: Replace each with a period or semi-colon or line break. Does it still work the same way?

Before starting this blurb, I was among the exclamation haters. They’re excessive. They’re for performance. They don’t belong on the page.

I know that remains true for some poems—I’m sure we’ve all come across one before and grimaced, especially if there happens to be the double!! or triple!!! combo—but when I began researching, I found more good than bad. Just look around, they’re used by big names and small names alike. When used properly, the exclamation mark can create some effects in your poetry that are unmatched by other punctuation.

It’s just a matter of pride and a new perspective.