Briefly comment on what it felt like to standardize Dickinson's work. Do you think editors were justified in making similar changes? Would you prefer to write like Dickinson did in her poetry in your daily and school life?

I enjoyed putting the poem into a standard form because I had to think about the relationship, line to line, of the entire poem. But it also makes me realize that Dickinson's dashes are effective because they leave it unclear just how one line connects to another. Honestly, if I read this poem either way, I don't know that I would notice feeling different about it, but putting the two versions together makes me see the differences.

If I were conforming strictly to modern style, I would also feel the need to not capitalize the nouns with the most symbolic meaning. I think the poet's way of capitalizing is a unique personal mark.

Editors work hard to make writing consistent. In some ways, though, I'm glad that everything doesn't have to follow rules, and I would not like to always use correct sentence structure in everything I write. I'm glad publishers eventually put Dickinson's dashes back in her poem so I can see them that way. It's subtle, but punctuation does play a role in what a poem means.

Explanation:

source text: from the sketch here given it will be seen, that our good grandmothers differed considerably in their ideas of a fine figure, from their scantily dressed descendants of the present day. a fine lady, in those times, waddled under more clothes even on a fair summer's day, than would have clad the whole bevy of a modern ball room. nor were they the less admired by the gentlemen in consequence thereof. on the contrary, the greatness of a lover's passion seemed to increase in proportion to the magnitude of its object—and a voluminous damsel, arrayed in a dozen of petticoats, was declared by a low-dutch sonnetteer of the province, to be radiant as a sunflower, and luxuriant as a full blown cabbage. certain it is, that in those days, the heart of a lover could not contain more than one lady at a time; whereas the heart of a modern gallant has often room enough to accommodate half a dozen - - the reason of which i conclude to be, either that the hearts of the gentlemen have grown larger, or the persons of the ladies smaller — this however is a question for physiologists to determine. add punctuation to the following excerpt. writing under the name of diedrich knickerbocker washington irving aimed his potent satire at as diverse topics as political rivals such as thomas jefferson to the very ideal of looking back on the past affectionately: a fine lady, in those times, waddled under more clothes even on a fair summer's day, than would have clad the whole bevy of a modern ball room. a voluminous damsel, arrayed in a dozen of petticoats, was declared by a low-dutch sonnetteer of the province, to be radiant as a sunflower, and luxuriant as a full blown cabbage. in those days, the heart of a lover could not contain more than one lady at a time; whereas the heart of a modern gallant has often room enough to accommodate half a dozen