Line Break: A Poetic Device

Line Break: Literal and Conceptual Meanings

Meaning	Description
Literal Meaning	A physical break in a line of text, marking the end of one line and the beginning of the next.
Conceptual Meaning	A pause or shift in thought, tone, or subject within a text, often used for emphasis, rhythm, or to create visual interest.

Line Break: Definition as a Poetic Device

A line break in poetry refers to the intentional termination of a line of verse, often employed as a crucial poetic device to shape rhythm, emphasize words or ideas, and contribute to the overall structure of a poem.

It represents a deliberate pause that invites readers to reflect on the preceding words and anticipate the following ones, influencing the cadence and flow of the poem. The strategic use of line breaks serves as a powerful tool for poets, allowing them to manipulate pacing and create nuanced meanings within the confined space of each line.

Line Break: Types

Type	Explanation	Example
End-stopped Line	A line that concludes with punctuation, creating a natural pause.	“The moon rose above the horizon, serene and bright. //”
Enjambment	The continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line to the next without a pause.	“I wandered lonely as a cloud, // That floats on high o’er vales and hills.”
Caesura	A deliberate pause or break within a line, often marked by punctuation.	“To be or not to be, that is the question: // Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer.”
Hanging Indent	An indentation of the second and subsequent lines in a poem, creating a visually distinct pattern.	“The sun descending in the west, // The evening star does shine; // The birds are silent in their nest, // And I must seek for mine.”
Free Verse Line	Lines that lack a specific rhyme or meter, allowing for flexibility in line length and structure.	“I celebrate myself, // And what I assume you shall assume, // For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”
Visual Line Breaks	Lines arranged to form a specific visual shape on the page, contributing to the overall aesthetic of the poem.	(The shape formed by visual arrangement of lines.)
Run-on Line	A line that continues its meaning into the next line without a grammatical pause.	“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? // Thou art more lovely and more temperate:”

This format indicates the line breaks in the example section using “//”.

Line Break in Literature: Examples

1. Do not go gentle into that good night, // Old age should burn and rave at close of day; //”
   • Dylan Thomas, “Do not go gentle into that good night”
2. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, // And sorry I could not travel both //”
   • Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”
3. “I sing the body electric, // The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them; //”
   • Walt Whitman, “I Sing the Body Electric”
4. “Because I could not stop for Death – // He kindly stopped for me – //”
   • Emily Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death”
5. “And thus the heart will break, yet brokenly live on. //”
   • Lord Byron, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”
6. “The apparition of these faces in the crowd; // Petals on a wet, black bough. //”
   • Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro”
7. “Hope is the thing with feathers, // That perches in the soul, //”
   • Emily Dickinson, “Hope is the thing with feathers”
8. “It is a tale told by an idiot, // Full of sound and fury, // Signifying nothing. //”
   • William Shakespeare, “Macbeth”
9. “The night is darkening round me, // The wild winds coldly blow; //”
   • Emily Brontë, “Remembrance”
10. “O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, //”
    • Walt Whitman, “O Captain! My Captain!”

These examples showcase the use of line breaks to create rhythm, emphasize ideas, and contribute to the overall poetic structure in various literary works.

Line Break in Literature: Relevant Terms

Term	Definition
Enjambment	The continuation of a sentence or phrase from one line to the next without a pause, maintaining the flow of thought.
End-stopped Line	A line of poetry that concludes with punctuation, creating a natural pause at the end.
Caesura	A deliberate pause or break within a line, often marked by punctuation, contributing to rhythm and emphasizing specific words or ideas.
Hanging Indent	An indentation of the second and subsequent lines in a poem, creating a visually distinct pattern.
Visual Line Breaks	Lines arranged to form a specific visual shape on the page, contributing to the overall aesthetic of the poem.
Run-on Line	A line that continues its meaning into the next line without a grammatical pause, creating a sense of continuity.
Stanza Break	A line break that marks the end of one stanza and the beginning of another, contributing to the poem’s overall structure.
Turn	A shift or change in direction within a poem, often signaled by a line break, introducing a new perspective or idea.
Free Verse	Poetry that lacks a specific rhyme or meter, allowing for flexibility in line length and structure, often utilizing unconventional line breaks.
Lineation	The arrangement of lines in a poem, including decisions about line length, breaks, and spacing, influencing the poem’s visual and auditory impact.

Line Break in Poetry: Suggested Readings

1. Ginsberg, Allen. Howl and Other Poems. City Lights Books, 1956.
2. Eliot, T.S. The Waste Land. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922.
3. Oliver, Mary. New and Selected Poems, Volume One. Beacon Press, 1992.
4. Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Self-published, 1855.
5. Plath, Sylvia. Ariel. Faber and Faber, 1965.
6. Frost, Robert. The Collected Poems. Henry Holt and Company, 1930.
7. Neruda, Pablo. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. Penguin Classics, 1924.
8. Bishop, Elizabeth. The Complete Poems. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1969.
9. Dickinson, Emily. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Little, Brown and Company, 1924.
10. Ashbery, John. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. Viking Press, 1975.