1. Lengthy meta-discussions of other listmembers' perceived hostile intentions, posting habits, personal qualities, repeated ideological/group baiting, etc. absolutely will not be tolerated. After one backchannel warning from the listowner, a second violation of this "no personal attack" policy will result in the offender's being banned from the list.

2. Above all, we aim to engage in substantive and friendly discussion of metrical poetry by women. We frown on the beating of dead horses in critiques. If you find a particular poem absolutely irredeemable, don't use the crit as an opportunity to grandstand. This says far more about the critic than about the work. We believe that it is indeed possible to point out specific problems without sniping or swiping.

3. By its nature, versification is a complex and detailed art and thus discussions of it can be dense. Those new to scansion, meter, versification, etc. should consider keeping handy a reference guide, such as Lewis Turco's Book of Forms, Paul Fussell's Poetic Meter and Poetic Form, Stephen Adams' Poetic Designs, or John Hollander's Rhyme's Reason. Some books useful for intermediate readers are Timothy Steele's All The Fun's In How You Say A Thing and Derek Attridge's Meter and Meaning: An Introduction to Rhythm in Poetry. Those curious about literary linguistics may be interested in Nigel Fabb's Linguistics and Literature. For gender issues in conversation styles, see Deborah Tannen's You Just Don't Understand! For a more exhaustive list, see our other recommended craft readings. (Your input is welcome--please keep the focus on meter, versification, or very closely related topics such as literary linguistics or non-English prosody.)

4. One-third of us are on digest. Please be considerate and delete the text of any email you're replying to (quoting a salient snippet is fine) to preserve general sanity and server space.

5. We would like to know of your new grandchild, tenured appointment, first book, or domestic partnership. Feel free to mention such blessed events in passing as part of another post. However, we also would like everyone to offer all one-line congrats and extended discussions of these and other personal topics backchannel to leave room for our main topic.

6. Similarly, we are far more interested in your analysis of an interesting reading you went to last night, or of the relevant book you’re reading, than we are in your particular outrage over today’s top headline.

7. Frequently, many of us already have signed the same online petitions that you have. However, there'll always be one or two people who disagree with your politics, but agree with your analysis of first-foot substitutions. Please do not forward political calls to action to this list.