Poetry & verse

Enjambment

The continuation of a sentence or phrase past the end of a line of verse without a pause.

Enjambment lets a thought spill over the line break so the reader is pulled onward to complete it. Writers use it to create momentum, surprise, or a tension between the eye’s pause at the line’s edge and the sentence’s push forward. It is the opposite of an end-stopped line that closes on its own punctuation.

Example

Williams breaks phrases mid-thought so each fragment hangs briefly, forcing the reader to slow down and see the plain images anew.

The Red Wheelbarrow · William Carlos Williams

Related terms

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