1. Getting Started
Let’s explore some strategies for lineation in contemporary poetry.
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
- write a poem employing intentionality in line breaks
- identify three types of lineation
2. Video: Introducing Lineation
Access a transcript of this video.
3. Approaches to Lineation
Line breaks in poems typically fall into three basic types. These types of line breaks each affect a different reader experience, lending a style, flavor, or mood to the way the line is delivered. Choosing the right type of line break frames the lines, helping the reader understand how to approach them.
Click through the image reel below to learn about three approaches to lineation.
Access a transcript of this image reel.
4. Knowledge Check
Great work! You’re really getting the hang of this “lineation” thing.
Hmm. Not quite. Even though there is no punctuation here, this poem is using parsed and end-stopped lines throughout.
5. Focused Lineation
The poem’s line breaks are often noticed most when used consistently and repeatedly. Focusing on one type of line break lends a tone or flavor to the poem as a whole.
Click on the image on the left to read “Clair de Lune” by Timothy Donnelly. Use the following questions to guide your reading:
- What is the effect of end-stop in this poem? How does it feel?
- This poem uses the poetic form of the villanelle. How does the use of end-stop change the feeling compared to other villanelles, like Bishop’s “One Art”?
- Why do some lines in this poem break from the end-stop pattern?
- How might this poem feel different if it focused on parsing or annotative breaks?
6. Lineation and Emphasis
Poems set up patterns, then break them intentionally in order to control the reader’s attention. If you came across a basket of red apples with one green one, the single green apple would draw your attention first.
In the same way, an end-stopped line in a poem that is otherwise heavily annotated draws our attention, emphasizing the importance of the line that stands out.
Click through the image reel below to learn more about how different types of line breaks lend specific kinds of emphasis.
Access a transcript of this image reel.
7. Knowledge Check
Great job! You’re really getting the hang of this “lineation” thing.
Hmm. Not quite. While end-stopped lines can feel abrupt, parsed lines feel paced and comfortable.
8. Lineation and Variation
Most poems use a combination of line breaks, creating variety and complexity. In a poem with varied line breaks, each line break can be considered a separate, intentional element designed to affect a specific passage in a specific way.
Click on the image on the left to read “Self-Portrait with Sylvia Plath’s Braid” by Diane Seuss. Use the following questions to guide your reading:
- Where does the poem use end-stop to force the reader to stop and consider a line more carefully? Why?
- Where does the poem use annotative breaks to build momentum? Why?
- How would the final line feel different if “of men,” was the end of the previous line instead of the beginning of this one? What is the function of this annotative break?
9. Prompt: Breaking the Line
Write a poem that employs lineation in one of the following ways:
- Option 1: Use annotative enjambment throughout in order to create unexpected breaks in the middle of phrases.
- Option 2: Use end-stop throughout, allowing each line to stand as its own sentence.
Share the resulting poem with some fellow writers whose opinions you trust, either informally or in a workshop setting. Ask them (and yourself) the following:
- Does the poem’s lineation feel appropriate for the subject?
- How do the line breaks affect the way the poem feels as it is read?
- How might the line breaks be made more impactful/effective?
- Which specific line breaks feel particularly strong and successful? Why?
10. Quiz: Understanding Lineation
Want to test your knowledge? Try the following quiz. For each passage below, identify the type of line break used. (Line breaks are indicated by “/”)
#1. “She reclines, more or less. / Try that posture, it’s hardly languor.” (From “Manet’s Olympia,” Margaret Atwood)
#2. “My mother, with legs like a deer. How they / carry her slimewise in winter. Her secret / name…” (From “Mulattress,” Kiki Petrosino)
#3. “After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, / we ourselves flash and yearn,” (From “Dream Song 14,” John Berryman)
Results
Before You Go
Check out the following resources on lineation:
- Longenbach, James. (2004). “The End of the Line.” The Resistance to Poetry. University of Chicago Press.
- Oliver, Mary. (1994). “The Line.” A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry. Harcourt.
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