English 219

Lineation Exercise

1. The text of this poem has been run together. Arrange it into lines and (if you wish) stanzas of poetry as if you were the author.

Song, Summer

Sexless, my brother flies over the house. He is glad to have this dark vegetable taken from him and hums as he circles. The air brims; already forgotten his name and the beckoning shapes below on the lawn. In the evening my brother dips, a dark cross fluttering. He hears the eaves murmur; he watches the mouth of my father. Now he smiles, sailing over the roof, heading straight for the blue cloud of pine.

--Rita Dove

2. Now write a short paragraph about what kinds of issues you thought about while you were doing this exercise: how did you decide where to put the line endings?