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Bookend words

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

A poetic device using identical or thematically linked words at both the beginning and end of a line, stanza, or poem to create structural symmetry and emphasis.

Detailed Definition
Single words that are repeated at both the opening and closing of a poem, creating the simplest form of circular structure. These terminal twins gain additional significance through their strategic placement, as readers encounter the word first without full context and then again after experiencing the poem's journey. The repetition can emphasize transformation, irony, or deepened meaning, as the same word often carries different weight or implication when encountered at the poem's end.
Example
Example in poetry:
Keats' "Bright star" opens and closes with "steadfast"; Rossetti's "Remember" begins and ends with the word "remember"; The Waste Land uses "April" to frame its opening movement
Additional Notes
Simplest form of framing device. Single words repeated at start and end create semantic bookends. The word often gains deeper meaning or irony through the journey of the poem between its two appearances.
Also Known As
Terminal twins Frame words Bracket words Echo words Epanalepsis
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