Line Endings in Renaissance Poetry

Book excerpt: This book looks at how Renaissance poets ended their poetic lines. It considers a range of strategies and argues that line endings are crucial to our understanding of the poems. I'll begin with an introduction summarizing the work that has already been done in this area and demonstrating my own method. The main part of the book will be divided into three chapters: one on rhyme; one on enjambment; and one on the sestina. These are the most significant kinds of line endings used by English Renaissance poets. The book ends with a brief afterword, in which I'll summarize my findings and sketch out some new areas for research.