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Borrowed refrain

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 refrain borrowed from another literary work, song, or cultural source and integrated into a new poem to evoke intertextuality, homage, or ironic contrast.

Detailed Definition
A borrowed refrain is a repeated line or phrase in a poem that is taken from another text—song, scripture, historical document, or prior poem—thereby layering the current work with intertextual resonance, irony, or homage; this technique transforms the refrain into a site of dialogue across time or culture, as in modern poems quoting spirituals or pop lyrics, where the borrowed words accrue new meaning through contextual displacement while retaining echoes of their original significance.
Example
Example in poetry:
Borrowed refrain: In Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” the refrain “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind” is a borrowed refrain—adapted from traditional spirituals to frame modern protest.
Additional Notes
Refrain adapted from another poem or source. Intertextual technique creating dialogue between texts. Related: allusion, found poetry. See also: centonization. Tip: Note how borrowed lines gain new meaning in context.
Also Known As
Adopted refrain borrowed chorus secondhand burden inherited repetend
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