Line Breaks in Poetry

Choosing where to break a line is an essential part of poetic craft, and while there are no rigid rules, there are techniques that can strengthen a poem’s impact. Understanding where to break your lines in poetry can help you create tension, depth, and a multitude of meanings. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Avoiding Breaking on Weak Words

Breaking on small words, like prepositions and conjunctions, can diminish a line’s strength. It’s important to note that the last word in a line receives more emphasis, so it’s best to end on a strong note that drives the poem forward.

Of course, it may be necessary to break on these words in some cases, so use your best judgement in the context, and always prioritize clarity. But more often than not, these words are often best placed at the beginning of a new line rather than at the end of one.

Breaking on Strong Words

Ending a line on a strong noun, verb, or striking adjective adds tension and emphasis, creating a more active pace overall. Let’s take a look at Nicole Sealey’s “Object Permanence” as an example:

You are the animal after whom other animals
are named. Until there’s none left to laugh,

days will start with the same startle
and end with caterpillars gorged on milkweed.

Ending on words like “animals,” “laugh,” “startle,” and “milkweed” places the emphasis on the imagery and action, making the poem more resonant overall.

If she had ended the third line on “with” or “the” or “same,” the line would have had much less impact. The break on “startle” instead makes the reader wonder what’s to come and creates intrigue.

Ensuring Consistency

Line breaks also affect pacing. Short lines have more white space, slowing the pace and leaving room to breathe. Long lines contain less white space, which speeds up the pace of the poem. Either can work well depending on what kind of effect you’re trying to create.

A more conversational or frantic poem might have longer lines, for example; I’d just make sure to create a pattern that your readers understand and can connect with.

On that note, I’d avoid randomizing your line length. While your line length can shapeshift to create emphasis in some places or indicate a shift, you shouldn’t change your line length at random, as this can feel disorganized and jarring. Ensure each line break in your poem does something and is intentional.

Creating Additional Meanings

In creating tension and surprise, your line breaks add layers of meaning to your poem. Often, a line break can make the reader consider the relationship between the two lines or force them to rethink the meaning once the second line is revealed.

In this other example from “Object Permanence,” we end on “everything” on line four, but it shifts entirely when she says “has led to this.” Now it reads “everything has led to this,” which adds context to the speaker’s relationship and creates a sense of resolve.

How have we managed our way
to this bed—beholden to heat like dawn

indebted to light. Though we’re not so self-
important as to think everything

has led to this, everything has led to this.

***

Understanding when to break your lines and why it matters will help you bring out the power in your poem. Let me know if you need any advice on where to break your lines—as this is included in an in-depth poetry edit—and best of luck writing.