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Allusive

Device
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

Employing indirect references to other texts, myths, or cultural artifacts

Detailed Definition
Allusive describes poetic language that indirectly references other texts, historical events, myths, or cultural symbols without explicit naming, relying on the reader’s knowledge to evoke deeper layers of meaning; allusiveness enriches a poem by creating intertextual resonance, as when T.S. Eliot invokes Dante or Shakespeare to layer contemporary despair with classical echoes.
Example
Example in poetry:
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” alludes to Hamlet and Dante; Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” references the biblical Lazarus and Nazi imagery; Ezra Pound’s “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley” alludes to classical mythology and Victorian poets; W.H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” alludes to Bruegel’s painting of Icarus.
Additional Notes
Allusive poetry references other texts, myths, or historical events indirectly; requires reader knowledge for full effect; differs from direct quotation by implication rather than citation; key in modernist poetry (Eliot, Pound); students should track allusions to uncover layered meanings.
Also Known As
Allusion-rich Referential Intertextual Echoic
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