  The indention of lines of poetry is sometimes a puzzling matter for the inexperienced compositor, unless he is given printed copy or carefully prepared manuscript in which the line indentions are clearly indicated. There are few rules which govern the subject and these few are sometimes ignored in practice. If the composing stick will accommodate each line of verse in a line of type the composition will be much simplified. The first consideration will be to indent the lines so that the general body of the poem is approximately near the middle of the page or column. When the lines vary in length a great deal some calculation is needed to get the right indention without going over them the second time. The longest line should be set Indention of poetry is made with even em quads of the type used. The variations in indention are also graduated by ems; usually one em, but sometimes two, three, or more, according to the relative length of lines. The odd spaces needed for justifying are put after the last word in the line. As a rule, lines which rhyme with each other are indented alike. Pick and click Goes the type in the stick, As the printer stands at his case; His eyes glance quick and his fingers pick The type at a rapid pace. One of the commonest forms of verse is that in which the alternating lines or the second and fourth lines rhyme. In this case the second line of each pair is indented one em beyond the first. If the lines are long and the type small the indention may be two ems. (Rhyme of first and third, second and fourth lines.) When Freedom from her mountain height Unfurled her standard to the air, She tore the azure robe of night And set the stars of glory there. (Rhyme of second and fourth lines.) There is no wrath in the stars, They do not rage in the sky; I look from the Evil Wood And find myself wondering why. In many cases, however, rhymes like those above are set without varying the indention. When the rhyme follows at certain intervals, the rhyming lines are indented alike: My country, ’tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the Pilgrims’ pride, From ev’ry mountain side Let freedom ring. In blank verse the indention of lines is uniform, the only consideration being to indent the lines so that the general group will be somewhere near the middle of the page. Who draws a line and satisfies his soul, Making it crooked where it should be straight? An idiot with an oyster shell may draw His lines along the sand, all wavering, Fixing no point, or pathway to a point. An idiot once removed may choose his line, Struggle, and be content; but, God be praised! Antonio Stradivari has an eye That winces at false work and loves the true, With hand and arm that play upon the tool, As willingly as any singing bird Sets him to sing his morning roundelay, Because he likes to sing and likes the song. A uniform indention is also given to poems in which the rhyme is in two adjoining lines. He spoke of the grass and flowers and trees, Of the singing birds and the humming bees; Then talked of the haying, and wondered whether The cloud in the West would bring foul weather. When a line is too long to come into the page width the surplus words are turned over to the next line; to avoid confusion this turn-over is indented differently from the beginning of a regular line commencing with a capital. Gallop and sing, gallop and sing! With the open road before, And my good horse laying his hoofs to the ground As I ride by the shouting shore. If the compositor is given any discretion in setting poetry, care should be taken to regulate the length of line and the indentions so that lines will not turn over into extra lines unnecessarily; yet, when the measure is narrow it is better to turn over an occasional long line rather than to place the whole poem out of the center. |
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