Imagism in poetry

[milo]

Potentially, but in my mind, I need to get something from a line break or there is no reason for the break which is why I make fun of the lines.  They seem choppy to me. I just can't see the point of breaking where he does.  I do not enjoy them, you can say. That being said, I rarely enjoy short lines or even short poems for that matter.

I do agree with you about the line breaks. It is possible I would enjoy this poem just as much if the line breaks were in other places or even if there were none at all.  My only guess is that, as it is a taunt, stringing it out like that forces the "dawning realizations" to come more individually rather than all at once.  It gives the reader time to gasp in outrage multiple times rather than all at once. Also, it slows down the reading which makes the torment last that much longer for his victim. For those of us who have not lost the plums, the gradual dawning of realization would be less exquisite than it would be for the original subject. It is only if we step into their shoes and imagine reading this note in place of eating plums that stringing out the explanation begins to feel like adding insult to injury, especially when you get to "forgive me." Up until that point, the original reader might have still hoped for an apology. But after that, it becomes clear that fury might be the only appropriate response.

Maybe. I am skeptical only because he seems to use the same technique in every poem he writes. Is he always trying to froth me into a rage?