I saw something once; or, rather, I did see
something; and now it does haunt my memory
as I do write it down in poetry.
The terrible wrench of the Do-Does-Did
is something of which we should all be rid.
The Poet who did or does write or speak
that way twists grammar and makes strong verbs fall weak.
Starward
Author's Notes/Comments:
I have never understood those writers (I can scarcely bring myself to call them poets) who use the Do-Does-Did construction. I have been told that the present tense form of a verb can be made past tense (while being spelled in its present tense version) by the application of "did": instead of "I wrote," one could say, "I did write." This, supposedly, is often used to preserve the rhyme scheme, when the present tense of the verb fulfills the rhyme but has to function in past tense. It is a tortured solution, sort of twisted in its logic, and a truly poetic rhyme scheme will account and plan for rhymes that can be fulfilled without wrenching a verb with the Do-Does-Did.
I do not know why this bothers me so much in my old age.
