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End-Stopped Line

Structure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A line of poetry in which the grammatical structure and the sense are completed at the end of the line, often marked by punctuation

Explore this topic in depth (2)

Enjambment and Line Breaks — A line break is more than a piece of page layout: it can interrupt, propel, delay or transform a phrase. This guide explains enjambment, end-stopping and the expressive possibilities of poetic lineation in reading, performance and musical settings.

Sonnet — The sonnet is one of poetry's most enduring forms: compact enough to concentrate thought, yet flexible enough for love, politics, faith, nature and grief. This guide explores its history, structures and variations, with particular attention to the volta—the turn that gives many sonnets their dramatic movement.

Detailed Definition
End-Stopped Line is a poetic line that concludes with a grammatical pause—marked by punctuation such as a period, comma, or semicolon—creating a clear break in both syntax and rhythm; this technique provides emphasis, clarity, and measured pacing, often used in neoclassical or meditative verse to underscore thought units, as opposed to enjambment’s fluid continuity, and can heighten rhetorical or emotional impact through deliberate closure.
Example
Example in poetry:
End-Stopped Line: "The world is too much with us; late and soon,"; "Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?"; "I wandered lonely as a cloud"; "Hope is the thing with feathers"
Additional Notes
A line ending with syntactic completion (pause), aligning grammar with line break. Opposite of enjambment. Creates stability and closure. Study how end-stopping versus enjambment affects pacing, emphasis, and tone. Fundamental technique for understanding line management.
Also Known As
Closed line Completed line Stopped verse line Pause-ending line Stopped line
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