Other names would do for most poetic contractions, but this term is reserved for those that became convenient fixtures for poets even after they ceased to be heard in ordinary speech. Among the more common are "e'er" (ever), "ne'er" (never), "e'en" (even), "o'er" (over), "'tis" (it is), "'twill" (it will), "'twere" (it were), and "'twould" (it would). A truly extraordinary poetic contraction appears in the following lines from Andrew Marvell's "The Garden," where he has reduced "soever" to a single syllable:

                            Fair Trees! where s'eer your barkes I wound,
                            No Name shall but your own be found.

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