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Clair Kang January 10, 2010

Impact of Line Breaks

The poem “Erosion” would not be a great poem if the author had not used the line breaks the way she did. The line breaks play many roles in the poem such as emphasis on words to create theme, rhythm, and tone. In the poem, words like “slowly, grain, and row” in the first stanza are stressed because they are the last words in their lines even though they are not the last words in their sentences. Like this, line break plays a huge role in emphasizing certain words that the author intends. Also in the first stanza, the word “slippage” stands alone in one single line. That gives great preeminence to the word, and it makes sense because the word “slippage” is the most important word in the stanza. It is talking about the slippage of time, and that it happens “slowly.” Just by looking at the words that are stressed through the method of line breaks, we can paraphrase the first stanza in order to figure out the theme of the poem. Not only do line breaks affect the theme, but they also affect the rhythm of the poem. What is a poem without rhythm? The second stanza in the poem clearly demonstrates why line breaks are important in creating rhythm. I see the second stanza in two sections. The first section includes the first five lines in which there are four to six syllables, and the second section includes the last three lines in which there are only three to four syllables. I think this was the author’s intent to create speed in the poem. When there are more syllables in one line than others, it slows down the poem. However, in the last three lines, the poem picks up some speed, and therefore puts some intensity in the phrase “than a clock, for here sand is running out,” which I believe was the author’s exact intent. And without line breaks, this creation of rhythm obviously would not have been possible as they are the ones that allow each sentence to be broken into a number of lines with specific number of syllables. Finally, line breaks create the general tone of the speaker. Reading the poem, I noticed that almost all of the adverbs such as “slowly, lovely, and simply” are at the end of the line: the author cuts off each line right after the use of adverbs. The focus on the many adverbs makes the speaker sound reflective and thoughtful. It is as if the speaker is observing the passage of time and reflecting on it. Any poem is not complete without rhythm, tone, or a theme. And line break creates all of those elements. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that without a good use of line breaks, a poem is not a poem.

Comment :

Dear Clair,

first of all, nice essay. I have not noticed that almost all of the adverbs such as “slowly, lovely, and simply” are at the end of the line. This clear pattern supports your claim that the author is reflective and thoughtful in carefully choosing words (especially adverbs) to convey the imagery. The essay is great, but it would have been even better if you have created an interesting title, or make the introduction more appealing for the readers. You did a great job focusing on the main topics.

- Da Bin Lee