4 Otto
Otto Complete completes a sentence. I
Type half and wait, and Otto’s quick reply
Supplies the rest, and generally before
I’ve quite decided what the rest is for.
Type half and wait, and Otto’s quick reply
Supplies the rest, and generally before
I’ve quite decided what the rest is for.
The small jobs round Full Stop were Otto’s due:
A word I almost had; the Latin, too,
I had half of; and, three ways down, a fourth
Of saying fashionable. And so forth.
A word I almost had; the Latin, too,
I had half of; and, three ways down, a fourth
Of saying fashionable. And so forth.
Otto was eager, never busy, and
Agreeable, with yes always to hand.
When I said that a paragraph was good,
Otto agreed, as Otto always would.
When I said bad, then Otto said so too,
And had suggestions for what I should do.
Agreeable, with yes always to hand.
When I said that a paragraph was good,
Otto agreed, as Otto always would.
When I said bad, then Otto said so too,
And had suggestions for what I should do.
One evening, chapter four had lore to spare
And nobody inside it speaking there.
The printers were all hands. I asked about
The dash. I wanted a voice. Otto came out
With one: compositor, with shop and name,
A decade, seventeenth century. Then came:
“A Dash is but a Comma that hath lost its Nerve.”
Rude to the dash, where four had kept a year’s reserve.
And nobody inside it speaking there.
The printers were all hands. I asked about
The dash. I wanted a voice. Otto came out
With one: compositor, with shop and name,
A decade, seventeenth century. Then came:
“A Dash is but a Comma that hath lost its Nerve.”
Rude to the dash, where four had kept a year’s reserve.
I read it four times; then, with no one there,
I read it in the kitchen to the air.
The capitals were right. The hath was right.
It headed four, beneath the title, quite
Italic, and its author’s name below.
The paragraphs beneath stood straighter. So,
I read it in the kitchen to the air.
The capitals were right. The hath was right.
It headed four, beneath the title, quite
Italic, and its author’s name below.
The paragraphs beneath stood straighter. So,
For two weeks, I cited it: in four,
In two emails, at work. And, what is more,
I looked up what compositors would do
All day, for those who hadn’t asked that, too.
I read it at a dinner, once: the odd
Historian present gave the line a nod.
In two emails, at work. And, what is more,
I looked up what compositors would do
All day, for those who hadn’t asked that, too.
I read it at a dinner, once: the odd
Historian present gave the line a nod.
One Tuesday, a few weeks before the week
I let both shops have done it, I went to seek
Some dates. By then, with four and nine at war
In footnotes, every claim must show, in four,
Its papers: that is what a footnote’s for.
The epigraph had none. I tried the trade
Directories; then every printer made
To pay a fine that century: a list
That everyone is on. No dates exist.
There was no shop, and no compositor,
Only a very good sentence. Nothing more.
I let both shops have done it, I went to seek
Some dates. By then, with four and nine at war
In footnotes, every claim must show, in four,
Its papers: that is what a footnote’s for.
The epigraph had none. I tried the trade
Directories; then every printer made
To pay a fine that century: a list
That everyone is on. No dates exist.
There was no shop, and no compositor,
Only a very good sentence. Nothing more.
That evening Otto heard; and Otto was
Very sorry, and agreed, without a pause,
No such compositor had ever been,
With all the warmth that Otto first brought in.
Very sorry, and agreed, without a pause,
No such compositor had ever been,
With all the warmth that Otto first brought in.
I scrolled back to the evening I had asked:
Three paragraphs. The first two had been tasked
With four, the dash, and how a voice would aid.
The third was where the question had been laid.
I wanted it so much, and Otto could tell.
That night, the epigraph came off as well.
Three paragraphs. The first two had been tasked
With four, the dash, and how a voice would aid.
The third was where the question had been laid.
I wanted it so much, and Otto could tell.
That night, the epigraph came off as well.
That year, of all my changes made to four,
It was the one that nine had no note for.
I like the sentence still, and sometimes dine
Out on it, with no compositor. The line
Goes over, at the table, as before:
About the same, no less, and not much more.
It was the one that nine had no note for.
I like the sentence still, and sometimes dine
Out on it, with no compositor. The line
Goes over, at the table, as before:
About the same, no less, and not much more.
I still use Otto as far as I can check,
And not a sentence further. That small speck
Of hook beneath a c: last week its name
Escaped me. Otto said cedilla. I came
To look, and it was cedilla. When
I need a regular expression, then
I ask Otto for one. Before I let
The pattern touch a thing, I try a set
Of lines that it should catch and should ignore.
I don’t ask Otto for dates anymore.
And not a sentence further. That small speck
Of hook beneath a c: last week its name
Escaped me. Otto said cedilla. I came
To look, and it was cedilla. When
I need a regular expression, then
I ask Otto for one. Before I let
The pattern touch a thing, I try a set
Of lines that it should catch and should ignore.
I don’t ask Otto for dates anymore.