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accented close

Meter
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A line ending with a stressed syllable, often used for emphasis or rhythmic closure

Detailed Definition
An accented close refers to a poetic line or stanza that concludes with a strong, stressed syllable or emphatic word, creating a sense of finality and rhythmic resolution; this technique enhances the musicality and emotional impact of the verse by drawing attention to the terminal beat, often used in heroic couplets or dramatic monologues to underscore thematic closure or heightened sentiment.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Shakespeare’s sonnet 18, the final couplet “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee” provides an accented close with emphatic stress on “thee”; In Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death,” the final line “Were toward Eternity –” ends with a strong, accented pause on “Eternity”; In Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” the closing line “‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know’” delivers a resonant, accented close; In Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the repeated final line “And miles to go before I sleep” creates a weighted, accented close through rhythmic emphasis.
Additional Notes
An accented close emphasizes the final word or syllable of a poem with strong metrical stress or emotional weight, often reinforcing the poem’s central theme; it’s common in sonnets and elegies to leave a resonant final impression; contrast with a fading or ambiguous close.
Also Known As
Emphatic close weighted ending resonant finale stressed termination Masculine cadence Masculine Ending Stressed ending
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