Excerpt from “Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth If this Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft, In darkness, and amid the many shapes Of joyless day-light; when the fretful stir Unprofitable, and the fever of the world, 5 Have hung upon the beatings of my heart, How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee O sylvan Wye! Thou wanderer through the woods, How often has my spirit turned to thee!

Question

Excerpt from “Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth If this Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft, In darkness, and amid the many shapes Of joyless day-light; when the fretful stir Unprofitable, and the fever of the world, 5 Have hung upon the beatings of my heart, How oft, in spirit, have I turned to thee O sylvan Wye! Thou wanderer through the woods, How often has my spirit turned to thee!

Use the poem to answer the question. What poetic device or quality makes this poem closed form?

blank verse structure
use of enjambment
inclusion of end-stopped lines
repeated use of near-end rhymes
abundant alliteration, assonance, and consonance

Answer 1

The use of enjambment is what makes this poem closed form. Enjambment is when a sentence or clause runs over from one line of poetry to the next without a pause. This creates a sense of continuity and fluidity in the poem, as seen in the excerpt where the thoughts and images flow seamlessly from one line to the next.