Caesura
Pronounced sih-ZHOOR-uh.
Caesura: A deliberate pause inside a line of verse, usually marked by punctuation.
A caesura breaks the line from within, letting a poet balance two halves against each other or stop the reader mid-breath exactly where the meaning turns.
Caesura examples
"To be, or not to be - that is the question - the dash is the hinge the whole line swings on."
— Hamlet, Shakespeare
"Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; / The proper study of Mankind is Man."
— An Essay on Man, Alexander Pope
"Old English verse such as Beowulf is built on a strong mid-line pause dividing each line into two half-lines."
— Beowulf
"He left. || The kettle went on boiling."
— original example
Try it on your own writing: Meter Checker - scan your own lines
Spot the Caesura
Score: 0/0A deliberate pause inside a line of verse, usually marked by punctuation.
"To be, or not to be - that is the question - the dash is the hinge the whole line swings on."
Which work is this from?
Explore every literary device in the poetic devices hub.
Caesura: common questions
What is caesura in literature?
A deliberate pause inside a line of verse, usually marked by punctuation. A caesura breaks the line from within, letting a poet balance two halves against each other or stop the reader mid-breath exactly where the meaning turns.
What is an example of caesura?
A classic example is "To be, or not to be - that is the question - the dash is the hinge the whole line swings on." (Hamlet, Shakespeare).
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