Claudia Emerson uses enjambment in her poem “The Lifeguard.” Enjambment is a literary technique in which one line runs on into the next without coming to an end. In “Lifeguard” the lines run-on from one stanza to the next. This is a technique an author employs to develop the meter or rhythm of a poem. As you read “Lifeguard,” you will notice that when you come to the end of a stanza, the line is not complete but carries its thought into the next stanza. The second line of each stanza lacks an end mark such as a period or question mark.
She perches high on the stand, gleaming whistle
dangling, on her suit a duitiful,
faded red cross. Mine her only life
to guard, she does for a while watch…
In addition, in “The Lifeguard,” enjambment is used to add to the visual appearance of the poem. The lines are arranged in a similar pattern throughout. After the first two-line stanza, each subsequent stanza is composed of two lines in which the first line both finishes the prior stanza and begins a new sentence that will run into the next stanza. The reader must carry the thought or idea from one stanza to the next to comprehend the poem.
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