Enjambment: GCSE English Definition

What is enjambment?

In GCSE English Literature, enjambment is the continuation of a phrase or sentence from one line of poetry to the next without any punctuation. This creates the effect of a thought continuing seamlessly across lines, with the enjambed line often not making complete sense until the reader finishes the sentence. 

Why do writers use enjambment?

Poets use enjambment to create meanings in a line or over an entire poem. Using enjambment can also affect the rhythm and structure of a poem, which might reflect the speaker’s thoughts or feelings. 

Enjambment can speed up the pace of a poem to add tension, reveal emotions, create movement or reveal insights by allowing thoughts to overflow across lines. It can also create contrast and discord, especially if mixed with end-stopped lines.

Examples of enjambment

E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose

Never to stoop.

In the poem ‘My Last Duchess’, Robert Browning uses enjambment to reflect the Duke’s stream of consciousness and his unfiltered thoughts and feelings. Written in the form of a dramatic monologue in a single stanza, the speaker initially appears dominant. However, the poet’s use of enjambment suggests a loss of control, revealing glimpses of his inner, violent nature. 

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

In Shelley’s poem ‘Ozymandias’, the poet uses enjambment to reflect the impermanence of the broken statue he depicts and to compare it with the endless power of nature. 

Revision resources to ace your exams

For study guides on how to analyse enjambment in poems, check out our detailed revision notes. All our notes are course-specific, so everything you’ll need to ace your exams is in one place!

GCSE English Literature Revision Notes 

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