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Blason

Form
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

A poem that catalogues the features of its subject, often female beauty.

Detailed Definition
A blason is a Renaissance poetic form that dissects a beloved’s body into parts (eyes, lips, hair), praising or critiquing each with elaborate metaphor; it often subverts Petrarchan idealization through irony or grotesque exaggeration, as in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130.
Example
Example in poetry:
Blason in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130: "My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun"; Petrarchan blasons idealize body parts; Contemporary feminist blason by Lucie Brock-Broido: "Her ribs—a cage of shattered violins"; The form dissects the beloved into lyrical fragments; Modern blasons often subvert objectification
Additional Notes
French Renaissance form cataloging beloved's body parts, typically praising. Related: blazon (English variant), anatomical poetry. Historical context: Petrarchan tradition. Often subverted in feminist revisions (counter-blazon).
Also Known As
Body catalog anatomical praise poem descriptive inventory blazon poem Blazon
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