2 Two Shops
Chapter four, on the dash: its title, to this day,
Is “A Fashionable Interruption.” I was proud,
And I’ll bring it back, less proud, along the way.
Is “A Fashionable Interruption.” I was proud,
And I’ll bring it back, less proud, along the way.
Its argument: one printer’s shop, and its whole crowd
Of compositors, liked the dash and set it, up and down,
In books enough that, a generation on, the trade had bowed.
Of compositors, liked the dash and set it, up and down,
In books enough that, a generation on, the trade had bowed.
Nine, on the semicolon, a quieter mark of less renown,
Says the dash took its place: a rival’s, with the same success,
The same popular books, from a shop across the town.
Says the dash took its place: a rival’s, with the same success,
The same popular books, from a shop across the town.
I wrote nine a year after four, from new sources, I confess,
And didn’t reread four; I’d written it; I knew what it said.
Red read both, and praised each one, no less.
And didn’t reread four; I’d written it; I knew what it said.
Red read both, and praised each one, no less.
The shops stay nameless: they’ve suffered, and so have I. Instead,
They’re the shop in chapter four and the shop in nine.
Fixing it looked easy. One was less right. I read
They’re the shop in chapter four and the shop in nine.
Fixing it looked easy. One was less right. I read
The sources, settled on four, and redrew its last third’s line:
Its shop was early; the rival made the dash catch on.
A smaller claim, easier to defend. But four had lost its spine.
Its shop was early; the rival made the dash catch on.
A smaller claim, easier to defend. But four had lost its spine.
Nobody wants to read about being early. Upon
That, four got its shop back, and nine’s rival just “helped popularize”
The dash: a phrase that means nothing. I typed it. Nine’s middle was gone,
That, four got its shop back, and nine’s rival just “helped popularize”
The dash: a phrase that means nothing. I typed it. Nine’s middle was gone,
Where it had explained the semicolon’s demise.
That was round one. How many rounds? I will not say:
More than I told Hedda; more than I’ll itemize.
That was round one. How many rounds? I will not say:
More than I told Hedda; more than I’ll itemize.
Each fix needed a footnote in the other, a relay
Back and forth, till footnotes cited footnotes: note fourteen, in four,
Said see twenty-two in nine, which sent you back the other way.
Back and forth, till footnotes cited footnotes: note fourteen, in four,
Said see twenty-two in nine, which sent you back the other way.
A careful reader could go round them evermore,
Or as long as a careful reader liked. I pinned them on the wall
Above my desk, four left, nine right, like seconds; what’s more,
Or as long as a careful reader liked. I pinned them on the wall
Above my desk, four left, nine right, like seconds; what’s more,
It helped to see them both at once. I marked them, a scrawl
Of red for four and blue for nine, and purple where they’d meet,
Till there was more purple than either, overall.
Of red for four and blue for nine, and purple where they’d meet,
Till there was more purple than either, overall.
Then came the week both shops did it. It was neat.
It came in the shower, where the best bad ideas accrue:
Same city, same years, same trade and customers. Why compete?
It came in the shower, where the best bad ideas accrue:
Same city, same years, same trade and customers. Why compete?
Each could have done it, on its own, at once, the way two
People at a dinner reach for the last roll. Nobody had to be wrong.
I took the footnotes down. I slept well, the week through.
People at a dinner reach for the last roll. Nobody had to be wrong.
I took the footnotes down. I slept well, the week through.
It was the happiest week of the book. Not for long:
On the seventh day, to enjoy it, I reread four from the start,
The title, which I had been proud of all along:
On the seventh day, to enjoy it, I reread four from the start,
The title, which I had been proud of all along:
“A Fashionable Interruption.” That broke the week apart.
Fashion doesn’t happen twice. The footnotes, filed
In notes-old-DO-NOT-DELETE, went back up. I’d believed, in part.
Fashion doesn’t happen twice. The footnotes, filed
In notes-old-DO-NOT-DELETE, went back up. I’d believed, in part.
After that, I stopped trying to win. Instead, I styled
The two not to notice each other: four vaguer on the date, nine on the street.
Each change was small and reasonable, and they piled
The two not to notice each other: four vaguer on the date, nine on the street.
Each change was small and reasonable, and they piled
Up. “Fashionable” left four’s body; the title I’d not delete.
The chapters got harder to read, and no easier to reconcile.
I half remembered, in two, on the comma, a sentence, discreet,
The chapters got harder to read, and no easier to reconcile.
I half remembered, in two, on the comma, a sentence, discreet,
That mentioned a shop and a dash. It was there, all the while,
Crediting neither: “the printers of the period.” A third position.
I pinned two up, to the left of four, in file.
Crediting neither: “the printers of the period.” A third position.
I pinned two up, to the left of four, in file.
Six had a dash too, in a paragraph on the colon: an addition.
Seven described four’s shop to fit nine’s. Seven went up with them all.
The seconds faced each other no more: too many for the tradition.
Seven described four’s shop to fit nine’s. Seven went up with them all.
The seconds faced each other no more: too many for the tradition.
By spring, I had run out of wall.