Line Breaks in Poetry

By Kelly Morris   

In poetry, turning the line refers to how a poems is broken into lines. Sometimes these are called line breaks. There is no one right or wrong way to turn the lines in a poem. Some ways will sound better than others, though. Some ways will make the poem read more smoothly. Others will seem awkward or confuse the reader.

Short lines may make a poem seem to speed up, while longer lines may slow it down a bit. If one line is much shorter than the others, that will draw attention to that line. Short lines can sometimes make a poem sound “choppy,” so watch out for that.

Poems usually read more smoothly if all the lines are similar in length, but that can grow predictable and dull. Varying the length of the lines can create interest, both visually and in the way the poem reads.

Consider the following sentences:

The storm clouds boiled ominously on the horizon. Housewives gathered laundry off the lines, and mothers herded children inside.

There are many ways these lines could be used in a poem.

In the first example, lines two and five are end-stopped, meaning the end of the line is also the end of the sentence.

The storm clouds boiled
ominously on the horizon.
Housewives gathered laundry
off the lines, and mothers
herded children inside.

In the second example, line two uses a technique called enjambment, in which a sentence ends in the middle of the line.

The storm clouds boiled ominously
on the horizon. Housewives gathered
laundry off the lines, and mothers
herded children inside.

In the third example, the last line consists of only one word. Notice how much attention is given to that word as you read it.

The storm clouds boiled ominously
on the horizon. Housewives
gathered laundry off the lines,
and mothers herded children
inside.

In this final example, notice how short each line is.

The storm clouds
boiled ominously
on the horizon.
Housewives
gathered laundry
off the lines,
and mothers
herded children
inside.

Practice Exercise

Try reading all these different visions of the same poem aloud. What makes them different? Which do you like better?

Choose a poem you’ve written and rewrite it using different line breaks. Try using enjambment instead of end-stopping your lines. Try making the lines shorter, then longer. Write several versions of the poem, experimenting with different line breaks in each one.