A caesura is a pause or break in a metrical line of poetry, often marked by punctuation or by a grammatical boundary, such as a phrase or clause. It is a feature of verse, not prose, and can be used to create variation in the rhythm of a poem or to emphasize words in the middle of lines that might not otherwise receive attention. A caesura can be marked by a comma, a tick, or two lines, either slashed or upright, but it doesnt have to be placed in the exact middle of a line of poetry. It can be placed anywhere after the first word and before the last word of a line. A medial caesura splits the line in equal parts, as is common in Old English poetry. When the pause occurs toward the beginning or end of the line, it is termed, respectively, initial or terminal. In modern European poetry, a caesura is defined as a natural phrase end, especially when occurring in the middle of a line. A masculine caesura follows a stressed syllable while a feminine caesura follows an unstressed syllable. The opposite of an obligatory caesura is a bridge where word juncture is not permitted.