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Afflatus

Concept
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

The belief that poetic inspiration derives from divine or supernatural sources, often described as a sudden, overwhelming creative force.

Detailed Definition
Afflatus is a sudden, divine or inspirational breath believed to animate the poet, originating in Roman thought (from “flatus,” breath); it describes the moment of creative possession or muse-driven insight that transcends rational composition, often invoked to explain poetic genius or revelation.
Example
Example in poetry:
Afflatus describes divine or poetic inspiration; Coleridge claimed “Kubla Khan” came from an opium-induced vision—an example of afflatus as sudden, transcendent creative impulse.
Additional Notes
Divine inspiration or creative frenzy in poetic composition. From Latin "breathed upon." Related to Muse invocation and furor poeticus. Romanticism emphasized spontaneous afflatus over neoclassical craft.
Also Known As
divine inspiration poetic inspiration
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