Allow me to share with you the insanity of my pedantry. Fully aware of the fact that once published, the text will not be displayed as written in Evernote, I nonetheless take great pains to ensure that the paragraph lengths correspond. In this post, paragraphs one, three, four and six have the same line lengths, as do paragraphs two, five and seven. Imagine my disappointment when I could not also express the “To the next poem” part in three paragraphs!
In the reworked version of the “Autumn” poem thus far, I have preserved the rhythm of the original composition. Recently, however, it seemed to me that certain lines contained a superfluous adjective—there merely as a legacy of the original cadence—contributing nothing vital to the work (the equivalent of having “Young” before “Mary had a little lamb”). I have now removed these adjectives from their respective lines. Already, the composition is more fluid, measured and succinct.
The great burden of the artistic soul is an unbearable sensitivity. What scarcely disturbs the surface in others is to it a tempest.
Forgotten Fields 