Home › Glossary › Letter M

Mid-line stopping

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 deliberate pause or break occurring in the middle of a poetic line

Detailed Definition
Mid-line stopping refers to a deliberate pause within a poetic line, marked by punctuation or caesura, that interrupts expected flow to create emphasis, suspense, or breath; unlike enjambment, which propels the reader forward, mid-line stopping forces contemplation, allowing a single line to contain multiple rhythmic or emotional units.
Example
Example in poetry:
Emily Dickinson’s dashes create mid-line stopping: “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain –”; T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”: “And indeed there will be time / To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?’”; Alexander Pope’s couplets use commas for mid-line halts; Old English caesura enforces mid-line stopping.
Additional Notes
Mid-line stopping uses caesura or punctuation to create a pause within a line; controls pacing and emphasis; students should scan lines to see how stops shape meaning (e.g., hesitation, revelation, or breath).
Also Known As
Caesural pause Mid-verse break Internal caesura Rhythmic halt Interpunction
Skip to main content