WHAT IS A LINE BREAK IN POETRY?
A 250 word guide, with diagrams too
Including free resources from William Carlos Williams, Layli Long Soldier, and the YouTube channel Writing with Andrew for further practice!
[Good evening friends. It is evening somewhere! Let’s practice doing lines together]- Blurb
Definitions, Beginner Level:
a line, the line: a single line of poetry, terminating in a punctuation mark, or an enjambment.
Enjambment: when a line runs into the next without a comma or period.
line break: the gap between one line and other. This not a stanza break, but a stanza break necessarily includes a line break.
DIAGRAM A
(please use this tool!)
—---
PROSE:
This is a single, long, flowing and beautiful sentence, however, it is somewhat unwieldy and artful, I hope no one breaks it up.
DECASYLLABIC, NON-METRIC, (Deca = 10):
This is a single, long, flowing beau
tiful sentence, however, it is some
what unwieldy and artful, I hope no
one breaks it up.
FREE VERSE, NON-METRIC
This is a single, A
long, flowing beautiful B
sentence, however,
it is some
what unwieldy
and artful, C
I hope
D
no one breaks it up.
NOTES ON DIAGRAM A, RE: READING ALOUD
A: comma line break, moderate pause
B: enjambment, light pause
C: stanza + line break, moderate pause
D: this is up to you to interpret! A two second pause? No pause? Leave the room and come back?
Conclusion:
A line break is a technical distinction. It exists across languages. It adds clarity, but is slower to read than prose.
Three Tips:
1: stick to 8 or 10 syllable lines
2: when in doubt, use couplets
3: put one half line in per sonnet
Suggested poets to study for this topic:
Free, old: William Carlos Williams. Start here: Spring and All, on Poets.org
Current, paid: Layli Long Soldier, Whereas, by Graywolf Press, the first book of poems Fish ever bought in 2021. Where to start online: Irony, on Poets.org.
Further viewing: Writing with Andrew has numerous high quality guides on this topic, Fish has learned from his channel personally since 2023 but has no professional contact with said creator at this time. Video at the bottom. Fish posts comedic and educational YouTube videos to B.H.L.M as a free service to B.H.L.M’s readers.
These do not constitute an endorsement, but she will remove the videos should an issue arise down the road.
New style haiku thanking Andrew, written 3:35 P.M April 1 by Fish
Nerd!…….
listening to Buddhist bells and writing,
N.P.M kigos us all.
Same.
Form: 4 line traditional, breaking word on line 1 (Nerd!), kigo (N.P.M = National Poetry Month = April) on line 3, and pillow word also on line 3 (kigos as a verb and pun). Fourth line is an Amerikaner flourish. Syllables are whatever, the idea is short.
Intended for writers 18 years or older who are new to poetry or writing in the English language for the first time.
Prepared for B.H.L.M by Fish (poetry, stage, and haiku name) on April 1, 2025. Free to re-use with or without attribution by copy and paste, if you attribute this guide, please credit the writer as “Fish” for her cyber-security. Thank you!