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broken cadence

Sound
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

An irregular or jarring disruption in metrical flow, often used to convey tension, surprise, or emotional instability.

Detailed Definition
Broken cadence describes a rhythmic disruption in poetic meter where expected stresses or pauses are interrupted, creating a halting, uneven, or jarring effect that mirrors emotional turmoil, hesitation, or thematic fragmentation, commonly used in modernist or confessional poetry to convey psychological realism.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –,” the broken cadence halts expectation with the intrusive “Blue – uncertain – stumbling Buzz”; Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” uses broken cadence to contrast lecture-room logic with the speaker’s intuitive awe; Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” employs broken cadence through abrupt shifts in tone and rhythm (“Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through”); T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” uses broken cadence in fragmented voices that disrupt lyrical flow
Additional Notes
Broken cadence describes a disrupted rhythmic flow, often through abrupt pauses, irregular meter, or syntactic interruptions; it’s used to convey emotional instability, surprise, or fragmentation in modernist and postmodern poetry.
Also Known As
Interrupted rhythm Halting meter Disrupted flow disrupted rhythm irregular rhythm shattered cadence
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