What Does Enjambment Show in Poetry

Hey

Well I need help on actually trying to understand the effect that enjambment entices.

It would be great help if you could point out the effect of enjamabent on this particualr poem, which is Havisham; a Gcse english lit poem

Beloved sweetheart *******. Not a day since then
I haven't wished him dead. Prayed for it
so hard I've dark green pebbles for eyes,
ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with.
Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days
in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress
yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe;
the slewed mirror, full-length, her, myself, who did this

to me?

Puce curses that are sounds not words.
Some nights better, the lost body over me,
my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear
then down till suddenly bite awake. Love's

hate behind a white veil; a red balloon bursting
in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding cake.
Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.
Don't think it's only the heart that b-b-b-breaks.

The words in bold are where I think enjambment takes place. But what effect does it have...

thanks for the help, rep will be given

firstly spinster isn't enjambment because it has a full stop before it I think...

And anyway, the effect of it is that it creates a continuum in the text making it come across to the reader as a spoken piece and that someone is actually talking directly to the audience.

It also ties the 2 stanzas together and shows linked themes and topics... I remember this poem:P Fun times. :P

'Spinster.' aint enjambent - I thought it was only if the sentence carries onto a new line withouth a full stop. 'Spinster.' is a simple sentence. I think thats right anyway.

The effect is ..as the lines progress, and the reader's eye is forced to go on to the next sentence. It can also make the reader feel uncomfortable or the poem feel like "flow-of-thought" with a sensation of urgency or disorder or surprise. It is also a little like speech you might think something but are surprised ot hear the ending e.g.

Tabetha leaped into the red sea
of wine, for as tiny as she was,
she could fit into any bottle.

is it enjambment if there is no full stop but a comma at the end of the line?

Beloved sweetheart *******. Not a day since then
I haven't wished him dead. Prayed for it
so hard I've dark green pebbles for eyes,
ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with.
Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days
in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress
yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe;
the slewed mirror, full-length, her, myself, who did this

to me?

Puce curses that are sounds not words.
Some nights better, the lost body over me,
my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear
then down till suddenly bite awake. Love's

hate behind a white veil

; a red balloon bursting
in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding cake.
Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.
Don't think it's only the heart that b-b-b-breaks.

The emjambment is where the phrase or sentence in the poem follows on without punctuation (have bolded)

The effect of the enjambment in this poem:
Evokes a sense of lack of control of the speaker
Allows for a creation of changes of pace where there are contrasts with short, sharp pithy end stopped parts and short sentences
Emphasis of certain terms which stand out at the end of lines - especially the antithetical 'love's hate'
Also an example of 'bursting/ in my face' it allows for a rise and fall of tonal progression, a kind of crash down to earth scenario
And the first to second line becomes more effective in the same way.

(Original post by Red_Sky)
Beloved sweetheart *******. Not a day since then
I haven't wished him dead. Prayed for it
so hard I've dark green pebbles for eyes,
ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with.
Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days
in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress
yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe;
the slewed mirror, full-length, her, myself, who did this

to me?

Puce curses that are sounds not words.
Some nights better, the lost body over me,
my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear
then down till suddenly bite awake. Love's

hate behind a white veil

; a red balloon bursting
in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding cake.
Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.
Don't think it's only the heart that b-b-b-breaks.

The emjambment is where the phrase or sentence in the poem follows on without punctuation (have bolded)

The effect of the enjambment in this poem:
Evokes a sense of lack of control of the speaker
Allows for a creation of changes of pace where there are contrasts with short, sharp pithy end stopped parts and short sentences
Emphasis of certain terms which stand out at the end of lines - especially the antithetical 'love's hate'
Also an example of 'bursting/ in my face' it allows for a rise and fall of tonal progression, a kind of crash down to earth scenario
And the first to second line becomes more effective in the same way.

Thanks so much; that was great!
Oh, what do you think the contextual issues are in this poem?

(Original post by Avacadro)
Thanks so much; that was great!
Oh, what do you think the contextual issues are in this poem?

Hi, thats no problem at all. I really liked the poem when I read it and so I thought I would try and answer your question...I thought I recognised the style in fact and when I googled it - low and behold it was a duffy poem! Consider the help as a thank you for reminding me to read a little more Duffy. A little off topic but I saw her at a poetry reading and she was fabulous, wonderfully witty and such an amazingly good speaker.

In terms of context it is based on a character from Charles Dickens Great Expectations called Miss Haversham. Not having read it I can't tell you much about her, but of course this immediately brings to the front of our minds why it is not entitled Miss Haversham, the fact the 'Miss' is not there is extremely significant.

Also, a large part of the context of this poem is centred around feminism...Remember that Duffy is lesbian poet and a lot of her poems are centred around the theme of female power and the lack of that when they are trapped in situations (such as relationships) by men.

Central to the poem then is this idea of brokenness/ spoiling/ decay/ deteriotation (where the emjambment comes into play) the marriage is broken, in turn her heart and her faith in men is broken...even her ability to function as a normal person is broken as she lives in the past and is eaten up by what has happened to her. The poem is also 'broken' by the interspersal of images of death/ violence/ body parts.

If you are doing a written analysis of the poem remember to mix the close reading talking about the enjambment and the effect of individual words as well as the effect of the poem as a whole.

You will get the most marks for original ideas - so enjambment here could have been used for a variety or reasons really!

It could be like the person above me said - for free flowing speech.
It could be to show the continuity of her anger - that it never really ceases, much like her obsessive 'Not a day since then I haven't wished him dead.'
It allows you to have surprised when reading visually - Love's hate behind a white veil; (the contrast being the surprise :P ) and when spoken it sounds rushed and angry with no pauses.

I don't know! You could come up with a thousand different. :P

(Original post by anurules)
You will get the most marks for original ideas - so enjambment here could have been used for a variety or reasons really!

It could be like the person above me said - for free flowing speech.
It could be to show the continuity of her anger - that it never really ceases, much like her obsessive 'Not a day since then I haven't wished him dead.'
It allows you to have surprised when reading visually - Love's hate behind a white veil; (the contrast being the surprise :P ) and when spoken it sounds rushed and angry with no pauses.

I don't know! You could come up with a thousand different. :P

ahh kool cheers for the advice!

and omg I am predicted the exact same as you! 9a* and 1B lol:P

(Original post by Avacadro)
ahh kool cheers for the advice!

and omg I am predicted the exact same as you! 9a* and 1B lol:P

Lol I doubt I am going to get what I am predicted though! I should really be revising all day and all

What are you predicted a B for? Mine is PE even though I am pretty good at it and I am pretty sure I wont scrape more than a B in french :P

(Original post by Avacadro)
Hey

Well I need help on actually trying to understand the effect that enjambment entices.

It would be great help if you could point out the effect of enjamabent on this particualr poem, which is Havisham; a Gcse english lit poem

Beloved sweetheart *******. Not a day since then
I haven't wished him dead. Prayed for it
so hard I've dark green pebbles for eyes,
ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with.
Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days
in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress
yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe;
the slewed mirror, full-length, her, myself, who did this

to me? Puce curses that are sounds not words.
Some nights better, the lost body over me,
my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear
then down till suddenly bite awake. Love's

hate behind a white veil; a red balloon bursting
in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding cake.
Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon.
Don't think it's only the heart that b-b-b-breaks.

The words in bold are where I think enjambment takes place. But what effect does it have...

thanks for the help, rep will be given

'who did this to me?' the enjambment is used to create a some what pause in realisation (Lady Havisham realises that the reflection in the mirror belongs to her) The fact she questions 'who' implies that she isn't taking any responsibility for her current state.
'Love's hate; this enjambment separated the penultimate and final stanzas as in the 3rd stanza she is talking about how 'some nights are better' showing a more positive attitude and uses sexual implications however in the 4th stanza her sense of anger takes over providing a contrast of emotion. Love and hate are also an oxymoron. The facts that the word love is written with an ''s' before 'hate' displays ownership suggesting the two come as a pair so there is no escaping the hurt and hate that comes as a consequence with loving someone.

Any line that doesn't finish with punctuation and reads as if it carries on onto the next line is enjambment, it is a way of creating audible interest for the reader. I've recently done this in GCSE English Literature so if you need to know anything else, just ask x

What Does Enjambment Show in Poetry

Source: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=879986

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