Poetic devices 9: Enjambment

Enjambment .... it's a French word, right? Lots of poets have never heard of it. But we've all seen it. We just don't know the correct word to describe it. You know... that weird thing where a new sentence starts in the middle of a line... maybe even the last line of a stanza... and then carries on as if nothing has happened into the next stanza. 

Enjambment comes from the French verb enjamber which means to stride across, or to encroach upon. And that's exactly what happens. The half finished sentence rides across to be completed somewhere in the following line, couplet or stanza.

Enjambment presents readers with an unresolved, and hopefully intriguing sense. They feel compelled to read on to find out what happens next. Whilst a rhyme provides closure, enjambment delays it. We are continually seeking for resolution, meaning, closure; enjambment creates a tension that provokes us to read on. 

Enjambment can create a free-flowing poem that places emphasis on unexpected tempo or change of pace. It works with punctuation too. In It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free, William Wordsworth places a semicolon in the middle of a line instead of at the end:

The holy time is quiet as a Nun
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking down in its tranquility;

It makes all the difference! Here, enjambment has been used to maintain the rhythm and flow of the poem, and also to preserve the integrity of the end rhyme scheme; Nun, sun.

Enjambment can also be used to build momentum in a poem, to provide some contrast or complexity, and playfully, to add some fun elements to the syntax of the lines. 

In the poem Endymion by John Keats enjambment is mixed with rhyme to create an illusion that there is closure after each couplet. But the thoughts keep coming, driving the reader on...

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

I hope you can get to grips with this poetic device. It is remarkably adaptable and can take your writing to the next level. 

Steve Wheeler 

Previous posts in this series

1. Simile

2. Metaphor

3. Repetition and refrains

4. Alliteration

5. Assonance

6. End Rhymes

7. Internal Rhymes

8. Rhythm and Tempo

Image by Banalaties used with a Creative Commons Licence

Poetic devices 7: Internal rhymes

When I first started writing poetry, way back in my late teens, I wrote in a fairly simplistic style. I'll admit, most of my lines were written to be incorporated into rock songs as lyrics. But some of my verses stood alone as poems. I learnt to use end rhymes because that is often the way song lyrics are constructed. 

It was only much later in life that I unearthed internal rhymes. I discovered that can add another dimension to my poetry. They take a little more thinking than simply writing a poem with, say, ABAB end rhymes. Choice of words is important, but so too is attention to the sound of words or phrases. Poets can manipulate the pace and feel of poetry using internal rhymes.

This poem was written recently, and you'll see it exploits the idea behind internal rhymes. Line 7 in particular uses 3 rhymes (page, sage, age) in one line. It also uses another literary device known as enjambment, which will be the topic of another blog post.

Lines 3 and 4 weave in and out of two separate internal rhymes. It's a little more complex, but effective. Hopefully this creates a cool tempo and injects a little more interest into the composition:

All That Sin

Your grin will soon begin to thin
when all that sin is factored in.
Your smile will ail and guile will fail
when all your style begins to pale.
The arrogance of second chance
completes a dance of circumstance.
You close the page of sage; old age
departs the stage with silent rage.

It's not that difficult to master if you think about it. But word choice is vital. Think of phrases that also might rhyme inside a line. 

The poem Galoshes by Rhoda W. Bacmeister is very popular with school children. It's used to show them what can be achieved by using internal rhymes to create musicality and rhythm in poetry. It is also a useful example of onomatopoeia, alliteration, repetition and assonance - all in one poem!

Galoshes

Susie’s galoshes
Make splishes and sploshes
And slooshes and sloshes,
As Susie steps slowly
Along in the slush.
They stamp and they tramp
On the ice and concrete,
They get stuck in the muck and the mud;
But Susie likes much best to hear
The slippery slush
As it slooshes and sloshes,
And splishes and sploshes,
All round her galoshes!

There are more outrageous internal rhymes in poetry. You just have to look out for them. Or perhaps you can create your own? I will leave you with one more example from the absolute master of the internal rhyme - one of my favourites - the English spoken word artist Harry Baker. This is a verse from his poem Knees, taken from his Unashamed collection:

Knees

My knees make your knees 

weak at the knees.

For my knees your knees

get down on one knee.

They ask my knees to join your knees

in holy matrimo-knee.

My knees say wait and see.

My knees have been known to tease.

I love the multiple internal rhyming, and absoloutely adore the pun in line six! You can have a lot of fun with internal rhymes. Have a go!

Steve Wheeler

Image from OpenClipArt

Other posts in the Poetic Devices Series:

1. Simile

2. Metaphor

3. Repetition and refrains

4. Alliteration

5. Assonance

6. End Rhymes