enjambment

Enjambment is a poetic technique in which the meaning or grammatical unit of a sentence runs from one line to the next without a terminal pause or punctuation at the end of the line. It contrasts with end-stopped lines, where a line ends with a natural pause, such as a period or comma, completing a thought within that line.

The effect of enjambment on pacing and interpretation can be significant. By delaying the end of a thought, it creates momentum, heightens surprise, and often shifts emphasis to a word or idea at the beginning of the next line. Readers may experience a smoother or more urgent rhythm, and poets can shape the texture of a poem by choosing where to break lines. Enjambment is common in English poetry and in many other languages, especially in verse that emphasizes free or flexible rhythm.

Notable distinctions include the contrast with end-stopped lines and the broader category of run-on lines. A widely discussed example is the opening couplet of a well-known line: “I think that I shall never see / a poem lovely as a tree.” Here the sentence continues across the line break, creating enjambment that drives the reader forward into the next line.

In practice, poets use enjambment to control emphasis, pace, and ambiguity. The decision where to break a line can alter how a reader perceives syntax, syntax boundaries, and the overall cadence of a poem.