The peculiar use of punctuation in A. R. ammons' "So I Said I am Ezra"

Abstract EN

In his poem "So I Said I am Ezra," A.R.

Ammons employs a peculiar nopunctuation strategy to represent his speaker's unique terms of association with the natural elements.

This kind of punctuation marks, we argue, allows for two opposed, yet interdependent, interpretations of the poem.

While the one interpretation underscores the speaker's progressive but eventual isolation from Nature, the other explains his growing sense of belonging and resulting mutuality.

We trace this ambivalent attitude to Nature in the poem's appropriation of the Romantic mode of poetic meditation and showcase how a twofold standpoint for thematic interpretation can be yielded by the special use of punctuation.

Following from a scholarly interest in the significance of punctuation in Ammons' poetry and in the contemporary American lyric, we bring attention to Ammons as a contemporary poet experimenting with the poem and the possibilities of meaning and form.