Poetry Hacks

Asyndetic List

What is it? A list without 'and' (or any other conjunction).

What effect does it usually have? The absence of words connecting the items in a list tends to quicken the pace, enhancing the text's dramatic impact. What else should I look out for? In some cases, e.g. where a poet lists a series of significant objects, adjectives, or adverbs, there is a greater separation between the listed items, and each takes on greater significance.

An example of how it works … Don Juan , Canto II by Lord Byron:

Strange sounds of wailing, blasphemy, devotion Clamoured in chorus to the roaring ocean

The frantic behaviour of passengers aboard a sinking ship is described with greater intensity by listing the sounds that could be heard asyndetically .

Another example … ‘The Convergence of the Twain’ by Thomas Hardy:

Over the mirrors … The sea-worm crawls — grotesque, slimed, dumb, indifferent

Imagining the lavish interiors of the Titanic now at the bottom of the Atlantic, Hardy uses an asyndetic list for a shocking portrayal of its new inhabitants.

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