in poetry, to continue a grammatical phrase or clause from one line to the next without a pause.
From French enjamber (from en- + jambe meaning 'leg'), literally meaning 'to stride over.' The term was borrowed into English literary terminology to describe when meaning 'strides' across line breaks.
Enjambment is what makes poets like Maya Angelou and Sylvia Plath's work feel breathless and urgent—your eye keeps moving forward even when the line ends, creating momentum that matches the emotional intensity.
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