The running on of a thought from one line of verse to the next. But cutting down on end-stopped lines (lines that conclude a thought with a punctuation), enjambment enhances the
flow of the poem's language and prevents a strict
rhyme scheme or
rhythm from sounding predictable and rigid. Here, for example, are four lines from
Edward Fitzgerald's translation of the Rubaiyat of
Omar Khayyam. Notice how the thoughts spill from one line to the next.
Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same door where in I went