408:, which is a metre of eleven syllables, is the most common line. In Serbian ten syllable lines were used in long epic poems. In Polish poetry two types of line were very popular, an 11-syllable one, based on Italian verse and 13-syllable one, based both on Latin verse and French alexandrine. Classical
343:
In the second example, the text before the line break retains a meaning in isolation from the contents of the new line. This meaning is encountered by the reader before it being modified by the text after the line break, which clarifies that, instead of "I, as a person, as a mind, am 'absolute,'" it
584:
Where the lines are broken in relation to the ideas in the poem it affects the feeling of reading the poetry. For example, the feeling may be jagged or startling versus soothing and natural, which can be used to reinforce or contrast the ideas in the poem. Lines are often broken between words, but
280:
The line break 'must/n't' allows a double reading of the word as both 'must' and 'mustn't', whereby the reader is made aware that old age both enjoins and forbids the activities of youth. At the same time, the line break subverts 'mustn't': the forbidding of a certain activity—in the poem's context,
616:
is a line broken into two parts, in which the second part is indented to remain visually sequential through spacing. In metric poetry, the places where the lines are broken are determined by the decision to have the lines composed from specific numbers of
664:
usually begins his lines with capital letters prior to his 1991 book-length poem "Flow-Chart", whereas in and after "Flow-Chart" he almost invariably begins lines with lowercase letters unless the beginning of the line is also the beginning of a new
153:. Line breaks can be a source of dynamism, providing a method by which poetic forms imbue their contents with intensities and corollary meanings that would not have been possible to the same degree in other forms of text.
109:. Even in poems where formal metre or rhyme is weakly observed or absent, the convention of line continues on the whole to be observed, at least in written representations, although there are exceptions (see
203:(/); for example: "What in me is dark,/ Illumine, what is low raise and support,/ That to the height of this great argument/ I may assert eternal Providence,/ And justify the ways of God to men." (
284:
While
Cummings's line breaks are used in a poetic form that is intended to be appreciated through a visual, printed medium, line breaks are also present in poems predating the advent of printing.
223:
in particular, conventions for the use of line become, arguably, more arbitrary and more visually determined such that they may only be properly apparent in typographical representation and/or
119:(or any other written layout) remains sufficient to determine poetic line, and this sometimes leads to the suggestion that the work in question is no longer a poem but "chopped up prose". A
660:
A new line can begin with a lowercase or capital letter. New lines beginning with lowercase letters vaguely correspond with the shift from earlier to later poetry: for example, the poet
171:
of the first letter of the first word of each line regardless of other punctuation in the sentence, but it is not necessary to adhere to this. Other formally patterning elements, such as
156:
Distinct forms of line, as defined in various verse traditions, are usually categorised according to different rhythmical, aural or visual patterns and metrical length appropriate to the
639:
is a line break in the middle of a sentence, phrase or clause, or one that offers internal (sub)text or rhythmically jars for added emphasis. Alternation between enjambment and
832:
Some critics go so far as to say that lineation is the defining characteristic of poetry, and many would say it's certainly one major difference between most poetry and prose.
376:
In every type of literature there is a metrical pattern that can be described as "basic" or even "national". The most famous and widely used line of verse in
English
134:, a term that literally means 'to straddle'. Enjambment "tend to increase the pace of the poem", whereas end-stopped lines, which are lines that break on
31:
is divided: literally, a single row of text. The use of a line operates on principles which are distinct from and not necessarily coincident with
677:
685:
601:
145:
Line breaks may also serve to signal a change of movement or to suppress or highlight certain internal features of the poem, such as a
768:
585:
there is certainly a great deal of poetry where at least some of the lines are broken in the middles of words: this can be a
948:
926:
719:
Because the lines start with capitalized letters, Eliot could be saying "Earth" as the planet or "earth" as the soil.
889:
78:
conventions for any given language. On the whole, where relevant, a line is generally determined either by units of
234:
where the primacy of the visual component may over-ride or subsume poetic line in the generally regarded sense, or
56:, and is one of the defining features of poetry. A distinct numbered group of lines in verse is normally called a
199:
When verse is quoted within sentences in prose articles or critical essays, line breaks can be indicated by the
600:), which are often interpreted in terms of their self-contained meanings and aesthetic values: hence the term "
596:
In general, line breaks divide the poetry into smaller units called lines (this is a modernisation of the term
105:
In
Western literary traditions, use of line is arguably the principal feature which distinguishes poetry from
983:
612:
of the poetry on the page, which is a common aspect of poetry but never the sole purpose of a line break. A
190:, or it may be elided such that the utterance can flow seamlessly over the line break in what can be called
816:
130:, the line break is usually but not always at the left margin. Line breaks may occur mid-clause, creating
738:
281:
the moral control the old try to enforce upon the young—only serves to make that activity more enticing.
167:
One visual convention that is optionally used to convey a traditional use of line in printed settings is
605:
881:
405:
293:
238:
in which the aural component stretches the concept of line beyond any purely semantic coherence.
993:
988:
961:
857:
666:
396:. In modern Greek poetry hexameter was replaced by line of fifteen syllables. In French poetry
36:
669:. There is, however, some much earlier poetry where new lines begin with lowercase letters.
573:
873:
179:
847:, Longman, 1969. Section 7.3 "Metre and the Line of Verse", pp.111-19 in the 1991 edition.
8:
915:
874:
360:
332:
123:
is a line broken into two parts, with the second indented to remain visually sequential.
172:
904:
773:
397:
296:. Here are two examples of this technique operating in different ways in Shakespeare's
127:
885:
820:
586:
381:
812:
728:
640:
425:
377:
778:
565:
231:
753:
696:
597:
421:
389:
168:
161:
75:
41:
28:
871:
672:
Beginning a line with an uppercase letter when the beginning of the line does
39:
or single clauses in sentences. Although the word for a single poetic line is
977:
937:
653:
200:
798:
758:
661:
624:
613:
590:
569:
420:, was most famously composed using the 32-syllable verse, derived from the
384:, while one of the most common of traditional lines in surviving classical
273:
120:
116:
95:
49:
is the termination of the line of a poem and the beginning of a new line.
45:, that term now tends to be used to signify poetic form more generally. A
676:
coincide with the beginning of a new sentence is referred to by some as "
648:
417:
224:
204:
150:
32:
748:
692:
644:
636:
242:
235:
220:
191:
131:
87:
52:
The process of arranging words using lines and line breaks is known as
211:). A stanza break can be indicated by the forward slash doubled (//).
74:
in poetry depend upon different constraints, aural characteristics or
681:
628:
469:(Robert Browning, The Ring and the Book 10, Book The Pope, lines 1-9)
393:
364:
336:
298:
230:
One extreme deviation from a conventional rule for line can occur in
743:
618:
413:
409:
401:
157:
139:
99:
872:
Margaret
Ferguson; Mary Jo Salter; Jon Stallworthy, eds. (2005).
733:
558:(Dante Alighieri, Divina commedia, Inferno, Canto III, lines 1-6)
135:
305:
In the first example, the line break between the last two lines
632:
430:
79:
58:
763:
609:
385:
183:
146:
106:
91:
83:
867:
865:
608:, and the lengths of individual words determine the visual
24:
949:
Claudio
Ciociola, Endecasillabo at Encyclopedia italiana.
862:
699:, where ambiguity abounds, a line break in the opening (
65:
175:, may also strongly indicate how lines occur in verse.
959:
520:
Des Peaux-Rouges criards les avaient pris pour cibles,
344:'really' means: "I am absolutely sure it was Cloten":
309:
them apart, emphasizing the cutting off of the head:
182:, a line ending may be pronounced using a momentary
142:), emphasize these silences and slow the poem down.
953:
62:. A title, in certain poems, is considered a line.
843:See, for example, the account in Geoffrey N Leech
115:). In such writing, simple visual appearance on a
90:that can also be marked by other features such as
517:Je ne me sentis plus guidé par les haleurs :
493:multa quoque et bellō passūs, dum conderet urbem,
320:Which he did wave against my throat, I have ta'en
70:Conventions that determine what might constitute
975:
938:Alexandrine, prosody at Encyclopaedia Britannica
627:is poetry without line breaks in accordance to
966:. Oxford University Press. pp. 1029–1030.
927:Hexameter, poetry at Encyclopaedia Britannica.
523:Les ayant cloués nus aux poteaux de couleurs.
487:lītora, multum ille et terrīs iactātus et altō
460:For though mine ancient early dropped the pen,
451:(Written by one whose deft right hand was dust
186:, especially when its metrical composition is
481:Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab orīs
514:Comme je descendais des Fleuves impassibles,
499:Albānīque patrēs, atque altae moenia Rōmae.
445:I will begin — as is, these seven years now,
526:(Arthur Rimbaud, Le bateau ivre, lines 1-4)
496:inferretque deōs Latiō, genus unde Latīnum,
466:Since of the making books there is no end.
292:Examples are to be found, for instance, in
680:". (this is an invented term derived from
490:vī superum saevae memorem Iūnōnis ob īram;
248:
916:Metre, prosody at Encyclopedia Britannica
463:Yet others picked it up and wrote it dry,
811:
484:Ītaliam, fātō profugus, Lāvīniaque vēnit
805:
245:simply eschews poetic line altogether.
111:
976:
880:. W.W. Norton & Company. pp.
457:Of all my predecessors, Popes of Rome:
442:Like to Ahasuerus, that shrewd prince,
647:and well composed poetry, such as in
564:Pioneers of the freer use of line in
454:To the last digit, ages ere my birth)
214:
138:(thought-pauses often represented by
66:General conventions in Western poetry
845:A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry
555:la somma sapïenza e ’l primo amore.
549:Giustizia mosse il mio alto fattore;
502:(Virgil, Aeneid, Book I, lines 1-7)
13:
579:
544:per me si va tra la perduta gente.
448:My daily wont — and read a History
23:is a unit of writing into which a
14:
1005:
711:Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
541:per me si va ne l'etterno dolore,
538:Per me si va ne la città dolente,
715:A little life with dried tubers.
400:is the most typical pattern. In
960:Monier Monier-Williams (1923).
942:
126:In the standard conventions of
931:
920:
909:
898:
876:The Norton Anthology of Poetry
850:
837:
791:
287:
1:
963:A Sanskrit-English Dictionary
784:
707:Winter kept us warm, covering
219:In more "free" forms, and in
7:
739:Canons of page construction
722:
552:fecemi la divina podestate,
10:
1012:
817:"Learning the Poetic Line"
769:Principles of organization
703:. 5–7) starts things off.
684:). The correct term is a
643:is characteristic of some
437:English iambic pentameter:
631:structure as opposed to
589:for achieving inventive
533:Italian hendecasyllable:
371:
241:At another extreme, the
35:structures, such as the
905:'Classroom synonym'.com
249:Examples of line breaks
717:
369:
341:
278:
815:(September 8, 2014).
705:
346:
311:
294:Shakespeare's sonnets
252:
16:Subdivision of a poem
984:Narrative techniques
412:poetry, such as the
98:, or by patterns of
509:French alexandrine:
361:William Shakespeare
333:William Shakespeare
314:With his own sword,
774:Repetition (music)
326:His head from him.
215:Degrees of license
160:in question. (See
128:Western literature
112:Degrees of license
821:Poetry Foundation
813:Hazelton, Rebecca
799:"Line - Glossary"
641:end-stopped lines
604:". Line breaks,
382:iambic pentameter
354:Twas very Cloten.
180:speaking of verse
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729:Active listening
476:Latin hexameter:
392:prosody was the
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406:hendecasyllable
404:literature the
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349:I am absolute;
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274:E. E. Cummings
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169:capitalisation
67:
64:
15:
9:
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678:majusculation
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654:Paradise Lost
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255:scolds Forbid
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209:Paradise Lost
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201:forward slash
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824:. Retrieved
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759:Part (music)
718:
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673:
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662:John Ashbery
659:
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625:Prose poetry
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614:dropped line
606:indentations
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96:alliteration
86:patterns in
71:
69:
57:
53:
51:
46:
40:
20:
18:
574:Apollinaire
418:Mahabharata
398:alexandrine
288:Shakespeare
236:sound poems
225:page layout
188:end-stopped
151:slant rhyme
33:grammatical
978:Categories
785:References
749:Enjambment
693:T.S. Eliot
637:Enjambment
266:n't Don't
243:prose poem
221:free verse
132:enjambment
88:recitation
47:line break
686:coroneted
682:majuscule
629:paragraph
619:syllables
602:good line
394:hexameter
365:Cymbeline
337:Cymbeline
299:Cymbeline
173:end-rhyme
76:scripting
54:lineation
744:Ellipsis
723:See also
667:sentence
568:include
426:anuṣṭubh
414:Ramayana
410:Sanskrit
358:—
330:—
271:—
259:den Stop
158:language
140:ellipsis
136:caesuras
102:-count.
100:syllable
37:sentence
734:Caesura
688:verse.
645:complex
570:Whitman
402:Italian
380:is the
378:prosody
178:In the
888:
826:5 June
649:Milton
633:stanza
587:device
431:shloka
205:Milton
193:run-on
80:rhythm
59:stanza
764:Pausa
610:shape
598:verse
422:Vedic
390:Greek
386:Latin
372:Metre
184:pause
162:Metre
147:rhyme
107:prose
92:rhyme
84:aural
42:verse
886:ISBN
882:2034
856:See
828:2019
572:and
416:and
388:and
307:cuts
263:Must
117:page
72:line
29:play
25:poem
21:line
695:'s
691:In
674:not
651:'s
635:.
164:.)
149:or
94:or
27:or
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864:^
830:.
819:.
701:ll
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576:.
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363:,
335:,
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227:.
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19:A
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