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9. ENJAMBMENT Five of the poem’s twelve lines are, arguably, enjambed. These moments either enhance Lucy's mystery, imitate the speaker's emotion, or reflect Lucy's hanging fate (though it's pretty clear from the start that she's dead, the speaker doesn't say it outright until line 10). The enjambment between lines 1 and 2, for example, enhances Lucy's mystery. The first statement about her—"She dwelt among untrodden ways"—is vague and full of intrigue. What does it mean that she "dwelt"? the reader might ask. If the place where she lived was "untrodden," will there be any way of fully answering that question? The end of the line poses these questions, which hang in the unpunctuated zone, an open space that may build hope in the reader that the next line will answer them (of course, it doesn't). The enjambment that ends line 3 might be read as reflecting the speaker's emotion. The speaker considers Lucy's anonymity a real shame. It's painful enough to admit "there were none to praise" her (especially considering that the speaker is just as culpable), but even more painful to admit that so few people loved her. At the end of line 3, "praise" hangs free, ready for enjambment. It's as if the speaker hesitates for a moment before going on to describe the full extent of Lucy's tragic situation. And at the end of line 9, enjambment imitates another of the speaker's hesitations, one the speaker has been making the whole poem: to admit that Lucy is dead. Of course, it's clear from the past-tense references to her that she is dead, but the speaker can't bring him- or herself to say it outright until line 10 ("Lucy ceased to be"). As the final moment before the admission, line 9 lingers in the memory of Lucy in life. It's probably not a coincidence that this line, graphically, is the longest in the poem. It stretches farther than any other, extending Lucy's sweet, lively virtue as long as possible. All that said, it's worth noting that none of these enjambments are particularly strong. Though these lines lack punctuation, they don't splice phrase in half; instead, the second part of the enjambed lines typically serves to enhance the meaning of the prior lines rather than reveal that meaning altogether. Line 3, for instance, might even be thought of as end-stopped by some readers, since "A Maid whom there were none to praise" is a complete, coherent thought; "And very few to love" adds to that thought, but it arguably makes sense in its own right. Recall that these terms are not an exact science, and that what's important here is understanding the general feeling of the poem, and how that feeling enhances or complicates its thematic ideas. Where Enjambment appears in the poem: • Lines 1-2: “ways / Beside” • Lines 3-4: “praise / And” • Lines 5-6: “stone / Half” • Lines 7-8: “one / Is” • Lines 9-10: “know / When”