Abstract

Enjambment may be defined as the continuation of syntax and sense across line junctures without a major pause. The two-part study analyzes the large number of mostly unbalanced and non-parallel lines in Lamentations 1–4 in terms of this poetic phenomenon, describing the degree to which it is used, the various forms it takes, and the effects it has on our reading of these poems. The first part presents a taxonomy of the major kinds of enjambed lines found in Lamentations, while the second part turns to a discussion of how enjambment is exploited rhythmically and semantically in these poems. While enjambment is clearly subordinate to parallelism as an intralinear linking device in Hebrew poetry, still, when present, it deserves some comment. And in the case of Lamentations 1–4, where enjambment within the couplet may effect, as I contend, roughly two-thirds of the couplets, some kind of explanation of the phenomenon is required. By whatever name, the combination of the lack of parallelism and the prominence of run-on sentences is integral to the prosody of Lamentations.