Enjambment

Definition

Enjambment is a poetic device where a sentence or phrase runs over from one line of verse to the next without a pause or break. This technique creates a sense of continuity and can enhance the rhythm and flow of the poem. By allowing thoughts to spill into subsequent lines, enjambment engages the reader and adds emotional intensity, often highlighting themes or ideas in unexpected ways.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Enjambment can create suspense and momentum in a poem, making readers eager to continue to the next line for resolution.
2. This technique is commonly used in free verse poetry but can also appear in traditional forms like sonnets and ballads.
3. By breaking lines at unexpected places, enjambment can enhance meaning, encouraging deeper interpretation of the text.
4. Poets may use enjambment strategically to control pacing and to evoke specific emotional responses from readers.
5. The contrast between enjambment and end-stopping (where a line ends with a natural pause) can highlight the poet's intent and thematic concerns.

Review Questions

• How does enjambment contribute to the overall meaning and emotional impact of a poem?
  • Enjambment contributes to a poem's meaning and emotional impact by creating a sense of urgency and movement. By allowing thoughts to flow over into the next line, it can emphasize important ideas and create suspense, prompting readers to engage more deeply with the text. This technique can evoke feelings that resonate with the themes of the poem, making the reader more invested in the speaker's emotions and experiences.
• In what ways can enjambment be contrasted with end-stopping in poetry, and what effects does this contrast create?
  • Enjambment runs sentences across multiple lines without pause, while end-stopping concludes a thought at the end of a line with a punctuation mark. This contrast creates different rhythmic effects: enjambment often leads to a quicker pace and heightened tension, while end-stopping provides clarity and closure. Poets might use both techniques intentionally to shape how their work feels when read aloud and to influence how themes are interpreted.
• Evaluate how poets can use enjambment to manipulate rhythm and pacing within their works, particularly in relation to emotional expression.
  • Poets manipulate rhythm and pacing through enjambment by controlling how quickly or slowly lines unfold for readers. When enjambment is employed, it can quicken the pace, reflecting heightened emotions such as excitement or anxiety, while pauses from end-stopped lines can signal moments of reflection or calm. This dynamic interplay allows poets to guide readers' emotional journeys through their work, making enjambment an essential tool for expressing complex feelings and nuanced themes.

Related terms

caesura: A pause or break within a line of poetry, often used to create a dramatic effect or to emphasize a particular idea.

meter: The structured rhythm of a poem, determined by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.

couplet: A pair of consecutive lines in a poem that usually rhyme and have the same meter, often used to convey a complete thought.