Structures of Poetry

The Line: A line of poetry is not like a sentence. Just because the words are one line, it doesn’t

mean that the complete thought is finished.

When reading poetry, and you reach the end of the line and there is no punctuation

after the last word, do not pause – continue reading as you would any sentence.

·         Example:  You would read the following

   “I lie in bed fully awake. The darkness

   breathes to the pace of a dog’s snoring.

   The film is replayed to sounds

   Of an intricate blues guitar.”

     “Late Movies with Skylar”

     Michael Ondaatje  

   the same way you would read

“I lie in bed fully awake. The darkness breathes to the pace of a

dog’s snoring. The film is replayed to sounds of an intricate blues

guitar.”  

However, this does not mean that what appears on a  single line of poetry is not

important. When reading poetry, or when writing your own, pay close attention to how

the lines are being broken up. A line of poetry does not have to end when the sentence

ends, and a period or comma does not have to appear at the end of the line either. Take

a look at these examples and notice how the poets are breaking the line.

“Like wet cornstarch, I slide

   past my grandmother’s eyes. Bible

   at her side, she removes her glasses.”  

      “Refugee Ship”

      Lorna Dee Cervantes “What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families

   shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the

   avocados, babies in the tomatoes!”

      “A Supermarket in California”

      Allen Ginsberg

Caesura: Most commonly, a caesura is punctuation somewhere else other than at the end of a

line of poetry.

·         Example: “There are their fragments, all I remember of them,

wanting more knowledge of them. In the mirror and in my kids

I see them in my flesh. Wherever we are

they parade in my brain…”

      “Light”

      Michael Ondaatjie

Enjambment: When the idea or phrase in a poem is carried over from one line into the next.

·         Example: “Black reapers with the sound of steel on stones

   are sharpening scythes. I see them place the hones

   in their hip-pockets as a thing that’s done,

   and start their silent swinging, one by one.”

      “Reapers”

      Jean Toomer