To add punctuation marks would eliminate the garden-path effect, in several
places, where there is an intentional ambiguity as to what word a modifier
attaches to.
In particular, note "with dew making the colors..." and "they are the new pink..."
In each case, the absence of a comma encourages us to misread the syntax as we
initially read the poem. It is the dew making the colors? is "the new pink of
the cinnamon tree" the complement of "are"? In both cases, the answer is no,
but because we have to think about it, to consider alternate parsings of the
sentence, alternate juxtapositions of images. Punctuation would give us the
answer right away and spoil the joy of discovering it for ourselves.
One other thing I would note is that whitespace is a form of punctuation too.
Historically, words were not always separated. (The practice was introduced in
the 7th-8th centuries by Irish monks.)
So strictly speaking, this is not a punctuation-free poem. The linebreaks in
particular help a lot. In a number of places, they function as equivalents to
a visible mark.
For a real experience of punctuationless reading, try reformatting the text as
an ancient Roman reader might have experienced it: a solid block of text,
broken only when the end of the line forced it, and without distinction of
capital and lower case letters:
oncemoreitisaprilwiththefirstlightsiftingthroughthe
youngleavesheavywithdewmakingthecolorsrememberwho
theyarethenewpinkofthecinnamontreethegildedlichens
ofthebambootheshadowedbronzeofthekamaniandtheblueday
openingasthesunlightdescendsthroughitalllikethereturn
ofaspirittouchingwithouttouchandunabletobelieveitis
hereandhereagainandawakereachingoutinsilenceintothe
coolbreathofthegardenjustrisenfromdarknessanddaysof
rainitisonlyamomentthebirdsflythroughitcallingtoeach
otherandaregonewiththeirfewnotesandtheflashoftheirflight
thathadvanishedbeforeweeverknewitwewatchwithouttouching
anyofitandwecantellourselvesonlythatthisisaprilthisisthe
morningthisneverhappenedbeforeandwebothrememberit
BTW, I think a poem like this would make an excellent exercise for an advanced
class. It's a great illustration of how punctuation and syntax interact.
Karl
Edgar Schuster wrote:
> Folks,
> A friend just sent me the following poem by W. S. Merwin:
>
> *Before A Departure in Spring*
> Once more it is April with the first light sifting
> through the young leaves heavy with dew making the colors
> remember who they are the new pink of the cinnamon tree
> the gilded lichens of the bamboo the shadowed bronze
> of the kamani and the blue day opening
> as the sunlight descends through it all like the return
> of a spirit touching without touch and unable
> to believe it is here and here again and awake
> reaching out in silence into the cool breath
> of the garden just risen from darkness and days of rain
> it is only a moment the birds fly through it calling
> to each other and are gone with their few notes and the flash
> of their flight that had vanished before we ever knew it
> we watch without touching any of it and we
> can tell ourselves only that this is April this is the morning
> this never happened before and we both remember it
>
> I love it myself, and had no trouble reading it in spite of its total
> absence of punctuation. Thought I'd share it with fellow grammarians
> and punctuation lovers.
> Just one question: Would the addition of punctuation improve it or
> spoil it?
>
> Ed Schuster
>
>
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