Final answer:
When a poetic sentence or phrase continues beyond the end of a verse line into the next without punctuation, this is known as enjambment. This technique influences the poem's energy and prosody by compelling readers to move quickly to the next line for completion of the thought, thereby adjusting the poem's pace and creating suspense or a shift in meaning.
Step-by-step explanation:
When a poetic sentence or phrase flows past the end of one verse line and into the next without any punctuation at the end of the first verse line, it is known as enjambment. This technique can have a significant impact on a poem's energy, music, tone, and prosody. With enjambment, readers are often propelled forward to complete the thought, increasing the pace of the poem. It can also create suspense, as the line break suspends a thought midway, urging the reader to continue to the next line for resolution.
For instance, an enjambed line can end on a verb and suspend the object onto the next line. This has the effect of speeding up the reader's pace, as they are compelled to move forward to complete the sentence. Poets use enjambment for a variety of reasons such as to play with the poem's energy, to create emphasis by stretching a thought across multiple lines, and to surprise the reader with a shift in meaning from one line to the next.
Contrastingly, when lines are end-stopped with punctuation, it cues the reader to pause. In formal verse like heroic couplets, end-stopping is more common, which can give the poem a sense of balance and harmony, as seen in 18th-century poetry. However, modern poetry, particularly free verse, often utilizes enjambment to achieve a more conversational and less structured feel.