people's hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.
This single sentence encapsulates the entire rationale behind the book, behind "Ishmael's" taking the adventure he does. Although it's technically not advisable, Melville could have used commas here, but if he had, the pauses would not have been as long, and the reader wouldn't have had the opportunity to digest each thought. Or he could have, alternately, used periods; but doing so would have made the reader pause too long, and not digest all of this as a single idea. Semicolons allowed the reader to pause and also created tension, capturing "Ishmael's" own tension, his own feeling of building restlessness and need to get on board a ship.
"Sometimes you get a glimpse of a semicolon coming, a few lines farther on, and it is like climbing a steep path through woods and seeing a wooden bench just at a bend in the toad ahead, a place where you can expect to sit for a moment, catching your breath."
— Lewis Thomas
DANGER OF OVERUSE AND MISUSE
The semicolon tends to be underused because many writers don't know how to use it well. They have some notion of its function, but not an exact idea, and when they take their first tentative steps toward using it, they tend to do so incorrectly. Compounding the problem is that placement of the semicolon, like the comma, is somewhat up for debate, and in many circumstances one could just as easily argue for its omission.
There are, however, some instances when the semicolon is clearly misused. The most common:
• The semicolon should never be used to link two sentences unless they are closely related. For example, this could work:
The police station was close to his house; he would have to be careful.
But this could not:
The police station was close to his house; he needed to do his laundry soon.
When using a semicolon, you must always ask yourself if the two sentences are closely linked. If not, omit the semicolon. Even if two sentences are related, in most cases it's preferable not to link them with a semicolon. Sometimes thoughts need to stand on their own, and are better digested separately. This is especially true if the reader needs time to ponder each thought.
• Sometimes sentences linked by semicolons are too closely related —in other words, sometimes a semicolon is used when merely a comma will do. For example, this sentence:
The gardeners worked all day; their machines blared all the time.
should more likely be:
The gardeners worked all day, their machines blaring all the time.
There is no question a pause is needed between these two clauses—the issue is how strong that pause needs to be. In this case, the clauses are too closely linked and it's the comma's job (which also mandates minor word changes). This especially holds true when dealing with a series of short sentences.
• In most cases, avoid linking two longer (or independent) sentences with a semicolon. The semicolon allows a fuller, more complex thought, but when that thought is already full (or independent), you can overburden it by tacking on yet another thought. Periods serve their function well, which is to allow separation between thoughts. You don't want a semicolon to break down that barrier unless there is an important reason for doing so. For example, here are two complete sentences:
My neighbor's fence was purple and hideous and fell apart every winter, encroaching on my property. She had built it with her own hands, she constantly reminded me.
These two sentences each convey a lot on their own, and should not be connected, as they are here:
My neighbor's fence was purple and hideous and fell apart every winter, encroaching on my property; she had built it with her own hands, she constantly reminded me.
This overwhelms the reader. Although technically this works, in reality it makes the single thought too cumbersome for most readers, makes it harder to fully digest each idea. Sometimes separation is
This single sentence encapsulates the entire rationale behind the book, behind "Ishmael's" taking the adventure he does. Although it's technically not advisable, Melville could have used commas here, but if he had, the pauses would not have been as long, and the reader wouldn't have had the opportunity to digest each thought. Or he could have, alternately, used periods; but doing so would have made the reader pause too long, and not digest all of this as a single idea. Semicolons allowed the reader to pause and also created tension, capturing "Ishmael's" own tension, his own feeling of building restlessness and need to get on board a ship.
"Sometimes you get a glimpse of a semicolon coming, a few lines farther on, and it is like climbing a steep path through woods and seeing a wooden bench just at a bend in the toad ahead, a place where you can expect to sit for a moment, catching your breath."
— Lewis Thomas
DANGER OF OVERUSE AND MISUSE
The semicolon tends to be underused because many writers don't know how to use it well. They have some notion of its function, but not an exact idea, and when they take their first tentative steps toward using it, they tend to do so incorrectly. Compounding the problem is that placement of the semicolon, like the comma, is somewhat up for debate, and in many circumstances one could just as easily argue for its omission.
There are, however, some instances when the semicolon is clearly misused. The most common:
• The semicolon should never be used to link two sentences unless they are closely related. For example, this could work:
The police station was close to his house; he would have to be careful.
But this could not:
The police station was close to his house; he needed to do his laundry soon.
When using a semicolon, you must always ask yourself if the two sentences are closely linked. If not, omit the semicolon. Even if two sentences are related, in most cases it's preferable not to link them with a semicolon. Sometimes thoughts need to stand on their own, and are better digested separately. This is especially true if the reader needs time to ponder each thought.
• Sometimes sentences linked by semicolons are too closely related —in other words, sometimes a semicolon is used when merely a comma will do. For example, this sentence:
The gardeners worked all day; their machines blared all the time.
should more likely be:
The gardeners worked all day, their machines blaring all the time.
There is no question a pause is needed between these two clauses—the issue is how strong that pause needs to be. In this case, the clauses are too closely linked and it's the comma's job (which also mandates minor word changes). This especially holds true when dealing with a series of short sentences.
• In most cases, avoid linking two longer (or independent) sentences with a semicolon. The semicolon allows a fuller, more complex thought, but when that thought is already full (or independent), you can overburden it by tacking on yet another thought. Periods serve their function well, which is to allow separation between thoughts. You don't want a semicolon to break down that barrier unless there is an important reason for doing so. For example, here are two complete sentences:
My neighbor's fence was purple and hideous and fell apart every winter, encroaching on my property. She had built it with her own hands, she constantly reminded me.
These two sentences each convey a lot on their own, and should not be connected, as they are here:
My neighbor's fence was purple and hideous and fell apart every winter, encroaching on my property; she had built it with her own hands, she constantly reminded me.
This overwhelms the reader. Although technically this works, in reality it makes the single thought too cumbersome for most readers, makes it harder to fully digest each idea. Sometimes separation is
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