The spacing of a poem can create an effect just as meaningful as the words of the poem. As a verse gets broken into different lines, the reader emphasizes certain words they may not normally. Breaking a verse in an unexpected point can create enjambment, which in turn breaks the sound or flow. When one reads a poem aloud, there is a tendency to pause at the end of a line, so when the lines cut off in different places, it forces a sentence to be read with a different sound. Breaks allow poems to be more language intense, as it ensures certain words will be read carefully, with a moment's pause in a line break to contemplate to meaning behind the word.
It is interesting to note that
as a verse is broken
down each word
is given more
power.
Besides having an interesting auditory pattern, spacing can create unique visual patters. For instance, in the poem "Valentine," Lorna De Cervantes whittles down her lines to create a half heart shape. Where the heart is the fullest, and there is least blank space, she recalls the happier moments of a tragically fated relationship. As the heart narrows to a point, she recognizes that her lover will be only a ghost haunting her dreams, leaving her empty inside with out the other half of the heart. This is also where there is the most empty space not being taken by text.
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