Enjambment

=**---ENJAMBENT-**=

This happens when a line has no punctuation at the end and the phrase and meaning continue in the next line. It is the opposite of end-stopped lines. The purpose of this is to create a sense of urgency or that there is no specific order.

Examples:

From __The Whitsun Weddings__: "And, As we moved, each face seemed to define Just what it saw departing: children frowned At something dull; fathers had never known

Success so huge and wholly farcical"

The use of enjambment forces the reader to continue reading without stopping until the next line to understand the whole meaning of the phrase. For example it is easier for a reader to understand "children frowned At something dull" in one continuous sentence rather than by choosing to place the beginning of a new phrase or clause as shown above. Poems with enjambment are sometimes hard to read since a reader will naturally pause at the end of a line and then have to continue with the next line. If it is not read properly the reader will be confused and the meaning will be temporarily lost.

From __An Arundel Tomb__: " Of time. Snow fell, undated.Light Each summer thronged the glass. A bright Litter of birdcalls strewed the same Bone-riddled ground. And up the paths The endless altered people came,"

Most of this poem has enjambment rather than end-stopped lines. In this example, the descriptive phrases' meaning continue in the following lines. The fact that these are short phrases and are enjambmed speed up the rhythm which implies that the action described is also happening fast. This could be visualized as a slideshow.