Expert: Ted Nesbitt - 9/27/2005

Question
Hello, I was asked to copy up this poem annotation I missed when I was off ill and was just wondering, do the bits in square brackets mean just the same as underlining them, or have they been put in square brackets for a reason? Are they specific poetry devices, or is it just the same as underlining them?

Thank you for help.

Here is the poem:

http://img44.imageshack.us/my.php?image=54vp.jpg

- Note, this is not homework or assignment, I just need to copy it up so I have it. I asked the other poetry person, even though this is under Homework Help and they said 'I will not help with Homework'.

Thank you.

Answer
Dear Alastair:

They have nothing to do with poetry, and brackets are not used to indicate underlining [underscoring].  I assume that the person who has written the annotations in the margins bracketed the words and phrases for his OWN use.

If he had had a yellow highlighter, he could have highlighted the words, instead of putting them in brackets.

If you know whose handwriting is on the page, you might ask him/her.

Ted Nesbitt