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blight

Noun
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 plant disease causing withering and decay, or a general state of corruption and devastation; poetically, blight serves as a potent metaphor for moral decay, lost vitality, or environmental ruin.

Detailed Definition
In literature, 'blight' often refers to a condition that causes decay or destruction, particularly in the context of plants, but it can also metaphorically describe the ruin of lives or reputations. In this poem, the Glass of Wine claims to have caused great harm, suggesting that its influence can lead to a blighted existence for those it touches.
Example
Example in poetry:
Blight is disease, damage, or ruin affecting plants, crops, places, or figuratively a life: “Potato blight blackened the field before the harvest”; In a social poem, “the blight of boarded windows” can describe urban neglect without reducing residents to the image; Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “Spring and Fall” offers a useful contrast between natural change and irreversible loss; A poet may use blight metaphorically for shame or addiction, but should preserve its sense of spreading harm
Additional Notes
The term 'blight' is not commonly used in everyday conversation, especially in the metaphorical sense presented here, making it likely unfamiliar to many readers.; Found in the poem, The Two Glasses by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Also Known As
decay affliction scourge
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