Home › Glossary › Letter B

break shift

Sound
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

A metrical or rhythmic technique where the position or function of caesuras shifts from line to line, altering pacing and emphasis dynamically.

Detailed Definition
break shift is a sudden alteration in tone, perspective, or syntax at a line or stanza break that reorients the poem’s trajectory, often functioning as a volta or conceptual pivot; this technique leverages the white space of the break to signal transformation, revelation, or contradiction, as in sonnets or modern lyric epiphanies.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “The Second Coming,” Yeats shifts from description to apocalyptic vision, a stark break shift; Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck” enacts a break shift from observer to participant; Langston Hughes’ “Harlem” shifts from question to explosive metaphor; Louise Glück’s “Mock Orange” breaks from floral imagery to feminist critique; Robert Frost’s “Design” shifts from observation to philosophical doubt in its final couplet.
Additional Notes
A deliberate change in the type or position of the line break or caesura within a poem; Used to alter the rhythmic pace, thematic focus, or intensity of the verse; For example, shifting from enjambment to an end-stopped line.
Also Known As
Shifted break Lineal shift Pause shift Caesural migration
Skip to main content