Home › Glossary › Letter B

Beginning repeat

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

A literary technique where the initial word or phrase is repeated in multiple lines.

Detailed Definition
Beginning repeat is a structural device where the opening word, phrase, or line recurs at strategic points in the poem, creating a refrain-like anchor that reinforces theme or mood; this technique enhances cohesion and mnemonic resonance, especially in oral or lyrical traditions.
Example
Example in poetry:
Beginning repeat, or anaphora, appears in Blake’s “Tyger Tyger, burning bright,” where the repeated opening intensifies address; Martin Luther King Jr.’s repeated “I have a dream” demonstrates how initial repetition builds momentum across a speech-poem cadence; Gwendolyn Brooks’s “We real cool” repeats “We” at line endings and beginnings to create collective rhythm; “Let the river remember, let the stones remember, let us remember” uses beginning repeat to make an incantation
Additional Notes
Beginning repeat is the repetition of a word, phrase, or line at the start of multiple subsequent lines, stanzas, or sections; a form of anaphora or epizeuxis for emphasis.
Also Known As
Shortened anapestic tetrameter Truncated anapests Beheaded measure Anaphora
Skip to main content