In poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, a dropped line is a line which is broken into two lines

Line (poetry)

A line is a unit of language into which a poem or play is divided, which operates on principles which are distinct from and not necessarily coincident with grammatical structures, such as the sentence or clauses in sentences...

, but where the second part is indented

Indentation

An indentation may refer to:* A notch, or deep recesses; for instance in a coastline, or a carving in rock* The placement of text farther to the right to separate it from surrounding text....

 to remain sequential visually. For example, in the poem "The Other Side of the River" by Charles Wright

Charles Wright (poet)

Charles Wright is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award Charles Wright (born August 25, 1935) is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award Charles Wright (born August 25, 1935) is an American poet whose awards include the National Book Award (19830 for...

, the first and second lines form a dropped line, as do the fourth and fifth lines:

Dropped lines have a variety of functions and uses. In Robert Denham's words, a dropped line is "a spatial as well as temporal feature, affecting both the eye and ear." It may be used to determine the visual appearance of the line as a whole. Wright, for example, uses dropped lines to reference landscape paintings, especially by Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...

 and Giorgio Morandi

Giorgio Morandi

Giorgio Morandi was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting apparently simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, bowls, flowers, and landscapes.-Biography:Giorgio Morandi was born in Bologna...

, which influenced his writing. As Joe Moffett notes, the dropped line "can be seen as imitating the sense of horizontal rhythm prevalent in paintings by Cézanne." Modern poets who are known for using dropped lines include Wright, Carl Phillips

Carl Phillips

Carl Phillips is an American writer and poet. He is a Professor of English and of African and Afro-American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis....

, and Edward Hirsch

Edward Hirsch

Edward Hirsch is an American poet and critic who wrote a national bestseller about reading poetry. He has published eight books of poems, including The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems , which brings together thirty-five years of work. He is president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial...

.

Dialogue

Lines which are broken between two voices, as in the first two lines in the following scene in Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

, may also be called dropped lines. In this case, the line is broken to reflect a change in character while preserving a steady iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter

Iambic pentameter is a commonly used metrical line in traditional verse and verse drama. The term describes the particular rhythm that the words establish in that line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet"...

 across the entire line.