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Blank space

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

An area of white space used for poetic effect or structural pause

Detailed Definition
Blank space in poetry denotes intentional white space on the page used as a compositional element to suggest silence, pause, absence, or emotional distance; it functions as a non-verbal cue that shapes rhythm, pacing, and interpretation—seen in the works of e.e. cummings or contemporary visual poets who treat the page as a field of potential meaning.
Example
Example in poetry:
e.e. cummings’ “l(a” uses spacing to isolate “loneliness”; In “This Is Just To Say,” Williams uses line breaks and spacing to create pause; Ocean Vuong’s poems often use white space to signify trauma gaps; Anne Carson’s The Glass Essay employs blank margins as emotional distance
Additional Notes
Blank space in poetry functions as a visual and rhythmic pause, inviting the reader to reflect or imagine what is unsaid; it can signify silence, absence, or emotional weight, especially in modernist and concrete poetry.
Also Known As
White silence negative space visual pause poetic absence Lacuna Space Whitespace
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