ENJAMBMENT

END STOPPED
and
CAESURA
 Enjambment

 Enjambment, derived from the

French word enjambment, means
to step over, or put legs across.
 Enjambment
In poetry it means moving over
from one line to another without a
terminating punctuation mark.

It can be defined as a thought or

sense, phrase or clause, in a line
of poetry that does not come to an
end at the line break but moves
over to the next line.
 Enjambment
In simple words, it is the running
on of a sense from one couplet or
line to the next without a major
pause or syntactical break.
• When the units of sense in a
passage of poetry don't
coincide with the lines, and
the sense runs on from one
line to another, the lines are
said to be enjambed.
 Trees
by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is

prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing
breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.
 In class example
by Henry Vaughan
With that some cried, "Away!" Straight I
Obeyed, and led
Full east, a fair, fresh field could spy;
Some called it Jacob's bed,
A virgin soil which no
Rude feet ere trod,
Where, since he stepped there, only go
Prophets and friends of God.
These lines are enjambed
With that some cried, "Away!" Straight I
Obeyed, and led
Full east, a fair, fresh field could spy;
Some called it Jacob's bed,
A virgin soil which no
Rude feet ere trod,
Where, since he stepped there, only go
Prophets and friends of God.
T. S. Eliot’s The Waste
Land
April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried…
T. S. Eliot’s The Waste
Land
April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried…
 Functions of Enjambment
 to surprise readers by delaying the meaning of a
line until the following line is read

 to bring humorous effects to their work.

 to let an idea, carry on beyond the restrictions of a

single line

 to continue a rhythm that is stronger than a

permanent end-stop
 End-stopped
This is the opposite of
enjambed

The line is stopped at the end

with a mark of punctuation.
 Example of End Stopped
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

(Shakespeare, Sonnet 18)

 Example of End Stopped

“Bright Star, would I were as stedfast as thou art —

Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite …”

(Bright Star by John Keats)

 Functions of End-Stopped Line
 to give poetic and rhythmic effect to the literary
text

 to slow down the speed and give a clear idea of

each line by creating a break at the end.

 provides regularity to the meter of a poetic text.

 makes poetry more coherent and accessible

 Caesura
A caesura, also written cæsura
and cesura, is a break in a
verse where one phrase ends
and the following phrase begins.

 It may be a comma, a tick, or

two slashed lines //.
 Example of Caesura
An Essay on Man
by Alexander Pope

Know then thyself //, presume not God to scan;

The proper study of Mankind // is Man.
Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
 Example of Caesura
Dead ! One of them shot by the sea in the east…
What art can a woman be good at? || Oh, vain !
What art is she good at, || but hurting her breast
With the milk-teeth of babes, || and a smile at the pain ?
Ah boys, // how you hurt! || you were strong as you pressed,
And I proud, || by that test.

(Mother and Poet by Elizabeth Barrett)

Functions of Caesura
 creates various effects, depending upon the way it is
used.
 breaks the monotonous rhythm of a line and forces
readers to focus on the meaning of the phrase
preceding the caesura

 creates a dramatic or ominous effect

 adds an emotional and theatrical touch to a line, and
helps convey depth of the sentiments.
 Writing your Own
Write a 4-line poem about the
finding yourself with a partner.
Create three versions of the
poem. One is end-stopped,
the next is enjambed and the
last is caesura.