Caesura
A caesura is a deliberate pause within a line of poetry, usually falling near the middle but sometimes elsewhere. It may be marked by punctuation or created by the rhythm and phrasing of the line itself. Poets use caesura to slow the movement, add emphasis, or create a speech-like break in the verse.
Example
Moonlight touched the gate, || and then the yard went still
I heard one clock strike once, || then nothing, then the hill
Arma virumque cano, || Troiae qui primus ab oris
("I sing of arms and the man, who first from the shores of Troy. . .")
Cynthia prima fuit; || Cynthia finis erit.
("Cynthia was the first; Cynthia will be the last" — Horace)
Hwæt! we Gar-Dena || on geardagum
("Lo! we Spear-Danes, in days of yore. . .")
Related Definitions
[n] a break or pause (usually for sense) in the middle of a verse line
[n] a pause or interruption (as in a conversation); "after an ominous caesura the preacher continued"
Related Terms
abeyance, accent, accentuation, Alexandrine, amphibrach, amphimacer, anacrusis, anapest, antispast, arsis, bacchius, beat, boundary, breach, break, cadence, catalexis, cease-fire, cessation, chloriamb, chloriambus, clearance, colon, comma, counterpoint, c