Poetry Hacks

Enjambment

What is it? Where a line runs straight onto the next without pausing (i.e. when it is enjambed rather than being end-stopped using a punctuation mark). Stanzas may be enjambed as well as individual lines. What effect does it usually have? Enjambment creates a sense of energy, urgency and movement, as the sense rushes on, as if it cannot be contained within the line; it usually increases the pace. What else should I look out for? Because we expect most lines of poetry to be end-stopped, enjambment can create a surprise; it tends to be used (along with other features of irregular verse) at times of excitement or to indicate a sense of disorder – e.g. describing a storm – or passion and freedom.

An example of how it works … The Prelude by William Wordsworth:

I wheeled about Proud and exulting, like an untired horse That cares not for its home. All shod with steel We hissed along the polished ice in games Confederate, imitative of the chase And woodland pleasures

Here Wordsworth evokes the joyful sports of his childhood, ice-skating and chasing his friends. The enjambment of all six lines creates a sense of headlong rushing from one game to the next, speed, and excitement; sibilance is used to re-create the sound of skating (shod, steel, hissed,

polished, ice games). Enumeration

What is it? Using lists.

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