enjambment
Verse line overflow
Enjambment is a poetic technique where a sentence or phrase continues past the end of a line without a pause, spilling into the next line.
The effect pulls readers forward, creating momentum or tension: Her thoughts ran on / into the dark.
The opposite is end-stopping, where punctuation closes each line.
Sentence lacking proper separation
- overflowExceed capacity and spill
- spilloverExcess that escapes
- carry-overAmount brought forward
- caesuraPause within a line
pause · break · continuation · wrap · turn · straddling
Metered poetic passage
- lineationDivision into lines
- stanzaPoem's line grouping
- coupletTwo successive verse lines
- sonnetFourteen-line metered poem
quatrain · lyric · haiku · ode · epic · ballad · tercet · sestet
Unbroken forward movement
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- momentumProduct of mass, velocity
- paceSpeed of movement
- tempoRate of musical performance
movement · pulse · continuity · tension · suspension · propulsion · urgency · drive
Device that measures usage
- scansionAnalyzing verse rhythm patterns
- footLeg's lowest part
- iambicVerse rhythm type
- pentameterFive-foot poetic line
hexameter · tetrameter · trimeter · spondee · pyrrhic · stress · unstressed · syllable
Unexpected event causing astonishment
- emphasisStress given to something
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
- expectationBelief about future outcomes
- revelationSurprising disclosed truth
run-on
Sentence lacking proper separation
- overflowExceed capacity and spill
- spilloverExcess that escapes
- carry-overAmount brought forward
caesura · pause · break · continuation · wrap · turn · straddling
verse
Metered poetic passage
sonnet · quatrain · lyric · haiku · ode · epic · ballad · tercet · sestet · octave
flow
Unbroken forward movement
tempo · movement · pulse · continuity · tension · suspension · propulsion · urgency · drive · sweep
meter
Device that measures usage
pentameter · hexameter · tetrameter · trimeter · spondee · pyrrhic · stress · unstressed · syllable · quantitative
surprise
Unexpected event causing astonishment
- emphasisStress given to something
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
- expectationBelief about future outcomes
revelation · suspense · irony · juxtaposition · reinterpretation
enjambmentheroic couplet
Rhymed pentameter pair
caesura · pause · full stop · line break
enjambmentpause
Temporary cessation of activity
stop · closure · completion · full stop · containment