Skipped lines are used in literature for various effects, including technical rendering, artistic effect, preserving poetic meter, translation, footnotes, and enhancing linear narrative. They can also create unique poetic associations and be used in shape poetry.
An omitted line in linguistic and literary terms is a line of text that extends to a certain point on the page and then ends with a related line of text proceeding from that midpoint onto the next lowest horizontal line. These types of techniques have been used extensively in literature and texts over the centuries for various effects. Some of these have to do with a more technical rendering of the script or theater script, while others are done for artistic effect.
A type of skipped line is sometimes seen in a script written for a game or movie. In this type of line-falling technique, the second part of the text is written on a lower line because two different speakers are reading two parts of the same line. This often happens when the drama is presented in a poetic form, such as iambic pentameter, a popular meter in Elizabethan drama. To preserve poetic meter with two different speakers, the dropped line helps subdivide the additional part of the iambic line, or a line that conforms to some other type of meter.
Another reason for lost lines is for translation, footnotes, or any other aspect where it is useful to break a text line by line. These functional uses of skipped lines are not extremely common in most languages. In some technical texts, they can be beneficial ways of providing more clarifying results to a community of readers.
Other types of skipped lines are done to enhance a linear narrative by creating a deliberate pattern of white space on the page. Some poets and artists talk about it as a link between ideas and the composition of the text. One idea is that a dropped line provides a type of implied ellipse, where white space serves as a “thought break” between two sentences. In general, the use of white space in poetry can help guide the reader and break up the text into more abstract pieces.
Proceeding from the above concept of dropped lines creating unique poetic associations, one can also associate the concept of dropped lines with the phenomenon of poetry of forms. In shape poetry, poets write text to form particular shapes on the page. Several fallen lines could create either of these shapes, a concrete shape or a more abstract “blizzard” or other association for the reader.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
