Enjambment
In poetry, enjambment or enjambement is the breaking of a syntactic unit or a clause over two or more lines without a punctuated pause.[1]
Use
Enjambment may also be used to delay the intention of the line until the following line and thus play on the expectation of the reader and surprise them. Alexander Pope uses this technique for humorous effect in the following lines from The Rape of the Lock:
- On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore
- Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore.
The second line should confuse the reader, raising the question "Why would a Jew or infidel adore a cross?" On second reading, the reader should realize that "breast" does not carry the general androgynous connotation of "chest" but instead the specific idea of a woman's breasts, which are so attractive that a man of any religion would kiss the Christian cross to be near.
Enjambment may be used in light verse, such as to form a word that rhymes with "orange", as in this example by Willard Espy, in his poem "The Unrhymable Word: Orange":
- The four eng-
- ineers
- Wore orange
- brassieres.[2]
Another usage is in alluding to taboo words, as in the clapping game "Miss Susie", which uses the break "... Hell / -o operator" to allude to the taboo word "Hell", then replaces it with the innocuous "Hello"
Examples
Endymion by Keats uses this chiefly, such as lines 2-4 show
“Its loveliness increases; it will never
/ Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
/ A bower quiet for us…”
References
- ^ Chris Baldick (30 October 2008). The Oxford dictionary of literary terms.. Oxford University Press. pp. 108–. ISBN 978-0-19-920827-2. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ^ Lederer, Richard (2003). A Man of my Words: Reflections on the English Language. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-31785-9.
Further reading
John Hollander, Vision and Resonance, Oxford U. Press, 1975 (especially chapter 5).
