The comma claims three columns of explanation in Fowler’s Modern English Usage. Apparently the comma comes to us from the Greek, meaning ‘piece cut off’ and was first used in English in the sixteenth century. There’s lots more information but I find it fun to think about this much-used piece of punctuation, and see what it does from a personal perspective …
THE PAUSE
… … denotes
a turning point 
a curve in the line
of my thinking
a mark to which
I am moving
the comma is blue
red or black
balanced on an arrow
that leans backward
into a past unwritten
dangling from the line
its head a moon
beginning to wane
To Bethlehem: ‘This little book is delightful, full of … poems on this timeless subject. … the most fun is the little prose vignettes of the common people in the Christ-child story. The slave who looks after the wise men’s camels, or the overworked maid at the inn who has to fetch water for the birth, and many more. A lovely gift for the reader on your Christmas list!’ Rosalind Adams. Available from Amazon and Kindle.
