The music of every poem is determined by three things: rhythm, metre and lineation. On this course, we will examine these three elements and discuss the ways they interrelate in the shaping of the poem, with a focus on lineation—the art of ending, breaking, or turning the line. In particular we will take a look at the recent resurgence of the ‘deep-breathing line’ — the line that tends to run beyond the conventional invisible barrier in English prosody: the pentameter, often itself thought of as having been established because it corresponds to one natural human breath. Together we will look at how and why a poet would adopt this longer line, explore the possibilities it brings to the poem, and work on extending and loosening the line in our own work. With poetry from Walt Whitman, DH Lawrence, CK Williams, Jorie Graham, Louise Glück, DA Powell, Marie Howe, and Claudia Rankine.