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Serpentine run-on

Device
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 sentence or phrase that flows continuously across line breaks in a winding, fluid manner

Detailed Definition
Serpentine run-on describes a poetic line that flows continuously across multiple lines or stanzas without punctuation or pause, mimicking the sinuous movement of a serpent; it creates breathless momentum and syntactic suspense, often used to convey urgency, ecstasy, or unbroken thought.
Example
Example in poetry:
John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” uses serpentine run-on lines like “Into this wild abyss, / The womb of nature and perhaps her grave”; Walt Whitman’s catalogs in “Song of Myself” flow in serpentine run-on across pages; Hart Crane’s “The Bridge” employs serpentine syntax to link American myths; A.R. Ammons’s “Corson’s Inlet” uses serpentine run-on to mimic coastal wandering.
Additional Notes
Serpentine run-on describes enjambment that flows sinuously across multiple lines without pause; builds momentum and mimics thought or speech—related to continuous two-liner.
Also Known As
Winding enjambment sinuous line-break flowing continuation meandering run-on convoluted overflow tangled run-on
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