But I Digress The Exploitation of Parentheses in English Printed Verse

Dr Johnson and whole hosts of grammarians disapproved of parentheses, but for countless poets they have been essential to their work. John Lennard provides a history of the poetic use of lunulae (the marks of parentheses) from their first appearance in England in 1494 to the present day, and shows how in each period the patterns of literary use have reflected technological, philosophical, and political developments.