Hey everyone, So, I was reading T.S.Eliot's The Ash Wednesday, which I've been in love with for years, and I came across this: "But to what purpose disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves I do not know." Now, I am too much of a pedant when it comes to punctuation. Does the sentence need a comma after "rose-leaves" or not? Thanks!
If anything, I would say a question mark. But I would grant T. S. Eliot poetic license without hesitation.
Thanks for your reply. It felt weird without a comma because there is a pause after "rose-leaves", and when there is a pause, there is a comma--usually. However, "But to what purpose disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves" is a full question. It is independent, so you can't add "I do not know", which is an independent clause itself, to it. The result would be a comma splice.
