A caesura is a pause within a line of poetry, which gives the poet an opportunity to vary the meter.
It is denoted by a comma or more effectively by stronger punctuation – the latter frequently identifies a significant moment or point in a poem.
On occasions a poet might use two caesuras in a line, as does Wordsworth in his sonnet ‘Surprised by Joy‘
– // – | ˇ – // ˇ – | ˇ – | ˇ – |
‘Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind’
(Incidentally, I read the first foot as a spondee but others might feel it is more of an iamb, with the second use of the word ‘love’ taking the heavy stress to give it further emphasis.)
—oOo—
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