Home › Glossary › Letter A

Anatomical verse

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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

Verse that incorporates imagery of human anatomy, physiology, or medical concepts to explore identity or emotion.

Detailed Definition
Anatomical verse uses the human body—its parts, systems, or functions—as a structural or thematic framework, often mapping poetic form onto physiological organization; it may explore identity, mortality, or embodiment through visceral, corporeal imagery.
Example
Example in poetry:
Anatomical verse in Walt Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric”; anatomical verse in Lucie Brock-Broido’s visceral imagery; anatomical precision in Sylvia Plath’s “Tulips”; anatomical verse uses bodily detail as metaphor for identity or trauma
Additional Notes
Poetry focused on body parts, organs, or physiological processes as central metaphor or subject. May be clinical or metaphorical. Related to body poetics. Consider Plath's bee poems or Donne's anatomical metaphysics.
Also Known As
Body verse Corporeal poetry Flesh-and-bone verse Physical form poetry Physiological verse
Skip to main content