The Poetic Because

The word is what I call “the poetic for”, because… Nah, I don’t know what for. Ba dum tss.

I haven’t read a modern or contemporary poem with the word “because” (a subordinating conjunction) in quite a while. Instead, the somewhat dated “for” (meaning because) doesn’t go out of style, be it for the sake of prosody, the old-fashioned feel, a play on words… the use cases are many, and the word “for” is very versatile as it stands. That said, I don’t condemn the modern or contemporary poet for abusing the word “for” in literary-creative contexts — but I miss “the poetic because”. We might start building its way.

I might use the word “for” in the described context, even in prose, but for a parodic effect (sometimes a deliberate “formal feel”).