Line Breaks

The use of line breaks in poetry can have many meaning and intensions. A line break can indicate a change in mood or emotion, as well as the attitude change of a character. A line break can also indicate the passing of time such as night to day, or a change in time period. I think that this gives the characters, as well as the author, a chance to “rest” and gather their thoughts. T. S. Eliot uses two line breaks in the poem, "Journey of the Magi". The line breaks in this poem were used to indicate a passing of time. Before the first break Eliot writes, “At the end we preferred to travel all night, Sleeping in snatches, With the voices singing in our ears, saying That this was all folly.” The line break follows, Eliot then writes, “Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley”. This is clearly a line break that indicates the passing of time. The second line break is used to indicate a passing of time on a more broad scale. Before the second line break Eliot writes, “Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.” Then the line break occurs, followed by the line, “All this was a long time ago, I remember.” These are two clear examples of how line breaks indicate a passing of time or a change in the scene. These are important in that they put the story being told into perspective and you can better understand the whole message from the author.