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antithetical pair

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

Two opposing ideas or images placed in contrast to highlight difference or tension

Detailed Definition
An antithetical pair consists of two contrasting or opposing ideas, images, words, or phrases placed in close proximity within a poem to highlight tension, create irony, or deepen thematic complexity; rooted in classical rhetoric, this device sharpens poetic argument through binary opposition—such as “light/dark,” “life/death,” or “freedom/confinement”—and is central to metaphysical poetry (e.g., Donne’s “Batter my heart”) where paradox and contradiction generate intellectual and emotional friction essential to the poem’s meaning.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138: "When my love swears that she is made of truth, / I do believe her though I know she lies"; Pope’s "To err is human; to forgive, divine"; Blake’s "The Tyger" juxtaposes "fearful symmetry" with divine creation; Donne’s "Batter my heart" contrasts imprisonment with freedom through paradox; Yeats’s "The Second Coming" opposes "the best lack all conviction" with "the worst are full of passionate intensity".
Additional Notes
An antithetical pair consists of two contrasting ideas, images, or words placed in deliberate opposition to highlight tension or paradox—common in metaphysical poetry (e.g., Donne’s “batter my heart, three-person’d God”) and classical Chinese verse. This device sharpens thematic focus and invites dialectical thinking. Students should note whether the opposition resolves, remains in tension, or generates a third term (synthesis). Related to chiasmus and oxymoron, but broader in structural scope.
Also Known As
Contrasting duo Opposing couplet Dialectical pair Juxtaposed dyad Dialectical opposites symmetrical term
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