Great poets and writers have the ability to make a reader hang off of every word, eager to read what comes next. This sort of anticipation in literature and poetry can be achieved through enjambment. It’s a clever technique that uses the way writers organize words for a psychological effect on a reader while also creating more meaning.
What is Enjambment in Poetry?
First, let’s define enjambment
In poetry, every punctuation mark, spacing, and organization of words can hold meaning. In the case of enjambment, a simple line break carries weight.
ENJAMBMENT DEFINITION
What is enjambment in poetry?
Enjambment is a poetic device where a sentence or phrase continues onto the next line without any punctuation break. It comes from the French word "enjamber," which means to step over or stride across. In poetry, enjambment breaks the traditional rules of grammar and syntax, creating a sense of fluidity and movement within the text.
What is enjambment used for?
- Controlling rhythm and pace
- Creating a sense of urgency
- Creating anticipation
- Adding contrast
Enjambment Meaning and Uses
Purpose of Enjambment
A simple line break may look the same for every use of enjambment, but enjambment can have different impacts depending on the words used or the context of the phrase.
"What is Enjambment?": A Literary Guide for English Students and Teachers
Controlling Rhythm and Pace
Enjambment gives writers the ability to meticulously control the rhythm and pace of their work, creating a beat that is usually achieved in spoken language. Since our mind automatically creates a slight pause at the point of a line break, writers use this to their advantage in creating rhythm.
Which words they create enjambment or at what point of the sentence will determine how a person reads the poem. This technique deepens the reader's engagement by making the experience of reading more dynamic.
Creating a Sense of Breathlessness or Urgency
By strategically breaking up sentences and thoughts across lines, enjambment can create a breathless or urgent tone to the poem. This method deliberately disrupts the poem's flow, compelling readers to move quickly from one line to the next.
When a line break is used right before the last word of succeeding sentences, readers often take in the poem faster as the enjambment directs them forward through every line rather than pausing at the end of each.
Adding Contrast and Tension
Enjambment can also create unexpected connections between words or concepts depending on where a line break occurs. Readers may wonder "Why did the poet choose to separate this word from the rest of the sentence is belongs to?" This invites readers to dive deeper into the intention of the poet and therefore the meaning of their writing choices and themes they are exploring.
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Enjambment Example
Examples of Enjambment
Enjambment is most commonly found in poetry where writers create pace on the page by how they enjambed lines and words. In this example by T.S. Eliot, enjambment creates a pace that thrusts us from line to line.
It also reflects the concepts of the poem itself, the mixing and overlapping of seemingly contrasting concepts that occur in the spring season. Lines overlap lines creating this stirring and mixing that Eliot is talking about.
“The Waste Land” (by T. S. Eliot)
April is the cruellest 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 tubers.
The impact of Eliot’s use of enjambment is a feeling that reflects the words of the poem itself.
Another great example is the pem “We Real Cool” by Gewndolyn Brookes. Here, enjambment gives a brilliant sense of the rhythm to the poem that creates an almost musical pace as we read.
The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon
Brookes is able to create not only rhyme, but rhythm in her poem through each consistent line break. How the line breaks occur with mostly the same number of syllables except for the first and last line creates a consistent rhythm.
Enjambment gives writers the ability to control how readers read the words the put down. Line breaks serve similarly to punctuation. A sentence can mean very different things when ending in a question mark versus an exclamation point versus a period.
The same goes for enjambment. A sentence can be read very differently when written in one line, two lines, or three separate lines. Even further, a sentence can be broken up into multiple lines in various ways spending on where the writer chooses to end the line. This makes enjambment a valuable tool to use.
Up Next
What is Repetition in Poetry?
Repetition is another technique poets have at their disposal that invite a reader to see a bit past the words on the page, and read into the intentions of the writer. Understanding the uses of repetition can make you a better writer as well as a more insightful reader.
