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An enjambment is a form of poetry in which a sentence or phrase from one line runs over to the next. An enjambed line typically lacks punctuation at its line break, enabling the reader to move smoothly and swiftly from one line of the poem to the next without interruption. In simple words, a poem is an enjambment when one sentence continues into two or more lines without a break.
Example:
In the poem "The Waste Land" written by T. S. Eliot, enjambment can be seen in the lines, which run continuously to more than 3 sentences:
"April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain."
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain."
Enjambment in the poem "Dust of Snow":
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
- The entire poem is an example of an enjambment where the lines run into more than one sentence.
- It may also be noted that the poem contains only a single punctuation mark (a period/full stop), which happens to be at the end of the poem.
- A single sentence has run into 8 lines in the poem.
- Though the poem breaks into a stanza at the end of the fourth line, the transition from the first stanza to the next is negligible.
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