Coment (Il Won): As I choose "Reapers" as my poem to discuss, I didn't get to see 'slow' as one of the consequence or purpose of enjambment. From the first stanza, I realize that "Grain / By grain ..." is meant to slow down the readers, separating words to give more meaning than just 'grain by grain.' It really reads like a poem. It would not have been without enjambment. I can see that the enjambment was done deliberately.
Il Min Ahn
Spotlight
“We are slowly undermined” (Pastan).
We are undermined. Undermined describes us. Undermined overrides all other words because we, the most important beings, are described by undermined. Slowly only comes much later on, if at all: It is an adverb, a word that describes another word that describes another word. Slowly is but a sidekick to a sidekick. But Paston endears Slowly. “Erosion” needs Slowly. Slowly requires attention. Nevertheless, Slowly is but a sidekick to a sidekick. How do we give a mere sidekick the spotlight?
Easy. Enjambment. Break the stage-hog off to the next line. Give Slowly the all-powerful spot in the line. Slowly now rules the line, rules the poem. The tone is now engrossing, rhythm is retarded, and the theme becomes the slow, quiet erosion of we. The seemingly unimportant line-breaks alter the tone, rhythm and theme of “Erosion” and turn the poem from what might have been a dull statement about nature to a sentimental and teleological confession.
First, the enjambments induce a regretful and sentimental tone. The line breaks emphasize single words in order to let the reader remember certain words more than others, and that emphasis aids in creating such tone. From the very first line, Pastan purposefully leaves slowly to end the line. This lets the reader feel that the poem is to be read slowly. Pastan ends the next line with grain, emphasizing the slowness by helping the readers visualize erosion happening grain by grain. In the third stanza, the author ends the lines with lovely, swallow, and left. This creates a regretful mood since the enjambment induces the idea that something that was loved will be swallowed and that there will be nothing left. The fifth stanza adds to this tone by ending the second line with children: when children are associated with death, the mood is always regretful and sad. Finally, the last stanza reminds the reader by using slowly again, emphasizing the slow degradation. All together, the enjambments embedded throughout the poem make the tone regretful and sentimental.
Secondly, the line breaks make the rhythm slow and elongated. Obviously, the first and the second to last lines end with slowly, making the rhythm and pace slow and relaxed. But more than the individual words themselves, the enjambment makes the rhythm irregular and the pace slower. Because the lines don’t end in sentences like the everyday reader is used to, the reader will have to slow down just to read. For example, the readers will have to first read “undermined. Grain” as a line, and then again, read “Grain by grain” as a sentence. This process will certainly make the rhythm slower and harder to follow. In this way, the enjambments make the rhythm elongated and the slow rhythm in turn adds to the sentimental tone and theme.
Finally, the enjambments in the poem add to the theme of nature slowly depriving people of life and what they valued in life. By simply reading the last words in the broken lines, one can presume the theme of the poem. Slowly, lovely, swallow, sand, grasses, wind, water, children, and yielding, which are all the last words from the broken lines, all relate to the theme of nature slowly depriving people of their lives. The last words are emphasized and, by placing these keywords last, Paston effectively makes her theme apparent. The theme is emphasized by the enjambments in the poem.
Without the enjambments the poem would not be the same. The line breaks effectively alter the tone, rhythm, and theme to enhance and add to the poem as a whole. One will easily follow the message of the poem whether one likes it or not thanks to the enjambments.
Il Min Ahn
Spotlight
“We are slowly undermined” (Pastan).
We are undermined. Undermined describes us. Undermined overrides all other words because we, the most important beings, are described by undermined. Slowly only comes much later on, if at all: It is an adverb, a word that describes another word that describes another word. Slowly is but a sidekick to a sidekick. But Paston endears Slowly. “Erosion” needs Slowly. Slowly requires attention. Nevertheless, Slowly is but a sidekick to a sidekick. How do we give a mere sidekick the spotlight?
Easy. Enjambment. Break the stage-hog off to the next line. Give Slowly the all-powerful spot in the line. Slowly now rules the line, rules the poem. The tone is now engrossing, rhythm is retarded, and the theme becomes the slow, quiet erosion of we. The seemingly unimportant line-breaks alter the tone, rhythm and theme of “Erosion” and turn the poem from what might have been a dull statement about nature to a sentimental and teleological confession.
First, the enjambments induce a regretful and sentimental tone. The line breaks emphasize single words in order to let the reader remember certain words more than others, and that emphasis aids in creating such tone. From the very first line, Pastan purposefully leaves slowly to end the line. This lets the reader feel that the poem is to be read slowly. Pastan ends the next line with grain, emphasizing the slowness by helping the readers visualize erosion happening grain by grain. In the third stanza, the author ends the lines with lovely, swallow, and left. This creates a regretful mood since the enjambment induces the idea that something that was loved will be swallowed and that there will be nothing left. The fifth stanza adds to this tone by ending the second line with children: when children are associated with death, the mood is always regretful and sad. Finally, the last stanza reminds the reader by using slowly again, emphasizing the slow degradation. All together, the enjambments embedded throughout the poem make the tone regretful and sentimental.
Secondly, the line breaks make the rhythm slow and elongated. Obviously, the first and the second to last lines end with slowly, making the rhythm and pace slow and relaxed. But more than the individual words themselves, the enjambment makes the rhythm irregular and the pace slower. Because the lines don’t end in sentences like the everyday reader is used to, the reader will have to slow down just to read. For example, the readers will have to first read “undermined. Grain” as a line, and then again, read “Grain by grain” as a sentence. This process will certainly make the rhythm slower and harder to follow. In this way, the enjambments make the rhythm elongated and the slow rhythm in turn adds to the sentimental tone and theme.
Finally, the enjambments in the poem add to the theme of nature slowly depriving people of life and what they valued in life. By simply reading the last words in the broken lines, one can presume the theme of the poem. Slowly, lovely, swallow, sand, grasses, wind, water, children, and yielding, which are all the last words from the broken lines, all relate to the theme of nature slowly depriving people of their lives. The last words are emphasized and, by placing these keywords last, Paston effectively makes her theme apparent. The theme is emphasized by the enjambments in the poem.
Without the enjambments the poem would not be the same. The line breaks effectively alter the tone, rhythm, and theme to enhance and add to the poem as a whole. One will easily follow the message of the poem whether one likes it or not thanks to the enjambments.