Day 10: End-stopping

Today's prompt is about end-stopping in both senses - form and content.

Form-wise, end-stopping is the practice of ending each line of poetry with a piece of punctuation (this could be a full stop, comma, or any other punctuation mark that you choose). Often confused with caesura (which sees a pause created in poetry by the use of punctuation in the middle of a line of poetry), end-stopping has many devotees throughout history, including Alexander Pope.

So in your poem today, you could try using the technique of end-stopping yourself, by making sure that each line in your poem ends with a piece of punctuation.

Alternatively - or indeed alongside this - you could explore the principles of ending, stopping, or both concepts together in your poem. What does it mean for something to end? Does it mean something different to stopping? How do we know when something has ended (or stopped!)?

One of Pope's most famous end-stopped poems is perhaps Eloisa To Abelard, as popularised by the Jim Carrey/Kate Winslet film 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'. May this excerpt inspire you on your journey to a piece of end-stopped poetry today:

"How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!

The world forgetting, by the world forgot.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!

Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;"

Word prompts

end

stop

begin

new

now

Remember, our prompts are only suggestions; you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants' work, share the hashtag #OctPoWriMo on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you.