Poetic Terms Dictionary
Structure

Caesura

From Latin caesura: a cutting. Obligatory in Old English alliterative verse; variable in classical and Renaissance poetry; powerfully used by Dickinson.

Definition

A pause within a line of verse, created by syntax, punctuation, or sense, dividing the line into two hemistichs.

Example

'To err is human; || to forgive, divine.' (Pope) — the semicolon marks a medial caesura.

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