End-Stopped Line

Definition of end-stopped Line
An end-stopped line may be a poetic device during which a stoppage comes at the top of a syntactical unit (sentence, clause, or phrase). This pause is expressed in writing as a punctuation mark, comparable to a colon, semi-colon, period, or full stop.

According to A. C. Bradley, a line would be associate end-stopped line, once the meter and sense each create a natural pause at its end such as during this line:

“Yet to be acknowledged shortens my created intent …”

(King Lear, by William Shakespeare)

Opposite of Enjambment
Enjambment is the alternative of end-stopped line. Thus, samples of end-stopped line ought to ne'er be confused with enjambement examples. once a break or pause comes at the top of a line or sentence, it's referred to as associate end-stopped line. However, once an opportunity comes within the middle of a phrase or line and also the plan moves on to ensuing line, it is called “enjambment.” Like in these lines:

“… I am not susceptible to weeping, as our sexCommonly are, the need of that vain dew…”

(A Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare)

Examples of end-stopped Line in Literature
Example #1: Bright Star (By John Keats)
“Bright Star, would I were as stedfast as large integer art —Not in lone splendor decorated aloft the night,And watching, with eternal lids apart,Like nature’s patient, sleepless religious …”

These lines are excellent example of end-stopped line. every line finishs with a punctuation mark, followed by a pause, which supplies a way of a separate unit. These pauses give rhythm and tempo to the poem.

Example #2: An Essay on Criticism (By Alexander Pope)
“A very little learning may be a dangerous thing;Drink deep, or style not the Pierian spring.There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,And drinking for the most part sobers United States again.”

These lines all end with grammatical breaks. Also, these end-stopped lines contain complete phrases and create sense. Here, each sentence corresponds to the length of a line, which pause slows down the pace of poem.

Example #3: Sonnet 18 (By William Shakespeare)
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?Thou art additional beautiful and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer’s lease hath only too short a date …”

This excerpt may be a excellent example of end-stopped line. All of those lines carry a stoppage at the end. there's a pause in each meter and sense; therefore, this device provides a whole poetic effect.

Example #4: Alley Cat Love Song (By Dana Gioia)
“Come into the garden, Fred,For the neighborhood tabby is gone.Come into the garden, Fred.I don't have anything by my ectozoan collar on,And the scent of herb has gone to my head.I’ll wait by the screen until dawn.The fireflies court within the sweetgum tree.The caprimulgiform bird calls from the pine,And she appears to mention in her rhapsody,“Oh, mustard-bown Fred, be mine!”The full-of-the-moon lights my whiskers afire,And the fur goes erect on my spine …”

End-stopped line is employed during this entire literary composition wherever every line ends with a stoppage marked by a punctuation sign. this offers pulsing and poetic effect. excluding that, it provides bigger flexibility to the poet.

Example #5: The Burning Babe (By parliamentarian Southwell)
“As I in hoary winter’s night stood shivering in the snow,Surprised i used to be with fulminant heat, that created my heart to glow;And lifting up a fearful eye to look at what hearth was near,A pretty infant all burning bright did within the air seem …”

In the higher than lines, the ends of the lines correspond to the ending of the clause. Also, there are robust breaks at the closing of every line, which helps creating the which means explicit.

Function of end-stopped Line
The purpose of mistreatment end-stopped lines is to relinquish poetic and pulsing result to the literary text. they have a tendency to cut down the speed and provides a transparent plan of each line by making a break at the end. Besides, it provides regularity to the meter of a poetic text. end-stopped lines create poetry additional coherent and accessible, and helps the readers meditate on the sentences. Hence, the reader is ready to explore deeper meanings and sense in lines wherever end-stop is given.
End Rhyme Enjambment