A caesura is a pause within a line of verse, usually near the middle. It may be marked by punctuation or simply felt as a natural break in the phrasing.

In Old English poetry the caesura is structural: each line divides into two half-lines separated by a clear pause. Later poets use it more freely for rhythmic variety, emphasis, or dramatic effect. A caesura can slow the pace, isolate a key word, or create a moment of suspense before the line continues. It interacts with meter and enjambment to shape how the poem is heard and felt.

The pause is not random. Skilled poets place caesuras to control the reader’s attention and to vary the otherwise regular beat of the meter. In performance the caesura becomes audible as a breath or a hesitation that belongs to the music of the line.

When a line of poetry breaks its flow for a moment in the middle, that break is a caesura.