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8. CAESURA Half the lines in this poem are broken by one or more caesura. In most cases, the caesura slows down the poem to focus on a specific image, but in a couple it’s used to emphasize a feeling. Caesura first occurs in line 4, in which commas separate the phrase “like a garment.” (In the next line, readers learn that this phrase is being used to modify the “beauty of the morning.”) This caesura thus contains a phrase that gives more life to the image of the city. It asks the reader to pause to consider the separated phrase, which turns out to be thematically important since it personififies the city. The caesura in line 5 also slows the poem. Furthermore, it allows the reader to attach “silent” and “bare” to multiple phrases. Though the reader soon learns that these words describe the specific buildings, without knowledge of what follows, the adjectives could just as well modify “This City” or “The beauty of the morning.” Thus, this caesura helps emphasize the simultaneous unity and individuality of the city and its parts. In lines 11 and 13, caesura adds force and significance to a feeling. Line 11 is dedicated to the speaker’s deep calm. Before arriving at that calm, however, caesura marks the depth of the feeling that leads to it—the feeling is both physical, affecting visual perception ("saw"), and interior ("felt"). The caesura in line 13 also emphasizes emotion. This time, it’s the apostrophe to God, which embodies the sharply shifting emotions of a speaker who is suddenly overcome with the sight of the city. Where Caesura appears in the poem: • Line 4: “,,” “,” • Line 5: “;,” “,” • Line 6: “,,” “,,” “,,” “,” • Line 7: “,” • Line 10: “,,” “,,” “,” • Line 11: “,,” “,” • Line 13: “!”