1. To create a sense of urgency: Short, fast lines can create a sense of urgency or immediacy in a poem. This can be effective in conveying emotions such as excitement, anger, or fear. For example, the poet Emily Dickinson uses short, fast lines in her poem "Because I could not stop for Death":
> Because I could not stop for Death,
> He kindly stopped for me;
> The Carriage held but just Ourselves
> And Immortality.
The short lines in this poem create a sense of urgency and foreboding, as the speaker is confronted with the inevitability of death.
2. To create a sense of rhythm: Short, fast lines can also be used to create a sense of rhythm in a poem. This can be achieved by varying the length and number of lines, as well as by using repetition and rhyme. For example, the poet Edgar Allan Poe uses short, fast lines in his poem "The Raven":
> Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
> Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
> While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
> As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
> "'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door-
> Only this, and nothing more."
The short lines in this poem create a sense of rhythm and suspense, as the speaker is drawn into a mysterious and unsettling world.
3. To create a sense of fragmentation: Short, fast lines can also be used to create a sense of fragmentation or disorientation in a poem. This can be effective in conveying emotions such as confusion, anxiety, or trauma. For example, the poet T.S. Eliot uses short, fast lines in his poem "The Waste Land":
> April is the cruellest month, breeding
> Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
> Memory and desire, stirring
> Dull roots with spring rain.
The short lines in this poem create a sense of fragmentation and chaos, as the speaker struggles to make sense of a world that seems to be falling apart.
4. To create a sense of intimacy: Short, fast lines can also be used to create a sense of intimacy between the speaker and the reader. This can be effective in conveying emotions such as love, longing, or vulnerability. For example, the poet William Carlos Williams uses short, fast lines in his poem "The Red Wheelbarrow":
> so much depends
> upon
> a red wheel
> barrow
> glazed with rain
> water
> beside the white
> chickens.
The short lines in this poem create a sense of intimacy and immediacy, as the speaker shares a moment of beauty and wonder with the reader.