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Why do poets write a line and break at an odd spot in the sentence to start a new line? How does one know where to break, and what does it mean?

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Line breaks are where natural pauses occur in the writing, and signal a change of movement; they can also emphasize certain lines to make them more important or intense than others.

Line breaks, in general, make a poem more interesting and dynamic. For example, Charles Bukowski wrote

“Love breaks my bones

and I

laugh.”

The word “laugh” is on a separate line by itself to get more emphasis; it makes those three lines even more intense.

Put in breaks where you would pause naturally if you were reading the poem out loud, or where you want to emphasize a certain section or bit. Put in breaks where you think they will sound good and flow naturally. 

Line breaks don’t necessarily “mean” anything; they’re just a nice poetic tool that can make a piece much more powerful and unique.

I hope that helped! :)

P.S. And yes, it’s called “enjambment,” if you’d like to read more about it.


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