Home › Glossary › Letter B

Body verse

Genre
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

Poetry that centers the physical body as subject, site, or medium of expression

Detailed Definition
Body verse is poetry that foregrounds the physicality of the human body—its sensations, movements, vulnerabilities, and desires—as both subject and medium; often intimate and visceral, it uses somatic imagery, tactile language, and embodied rhythms to explore identity, gender, illness, or eroticism, resisting abstraction in favor of corporeal authenticity and presence.
Example
Example in poetry:
Lucille Clifton’s “homage to my hips,” celebrating bodily autonomy through direct address; Sharon Olds’ “The Language of the Brag,” describing childbirth with visceral physicality; Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll,” contrasting societal expectations with bodily reality; Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong,” using the body as a site of trauma and tenderness
Additional Notes
Body verse foregrounds physical sensation, embodiment, or corporeal imagery; often used in confessional or feminist poetry to reclaim bodily experience.
Also Known As
Corporeal poetry Flesh lyric Somatic verse Embodied stanza Anatomical verse Physiological verse
Skip to main content