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Broken lyric

Form
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 lyric poem with intentional disruptions in continuity or conventional structure

Detailed Definition
Broken lyric describes a personal, emotional poem featuring structural or syntactic fragmentation. Rather than flowing continuously, the verse employs interruptions, gaps, or disjointed elements that may reflect psychological states, emotional complexity, or modernist aesthetics where discontinuity becomes an expressive tool.
Example
Example in poetry:
Sappho's surviving fragments exemplify broken lyric; Pound's "In a Station of the Metro" reduces lyric to essential image; H.D.'s Imagist poems use fragmented personal expression; Williams's "The Red Wheelbarrow" strips lyric to minimal elements
Additional Notes
Often associated with Imagism, confessional poetry, and postmodern verse. Fragmentation may be structural, syntactic, or thematic. Can reflect psychological states or challenge traditional lyric unity.
Also Known As
Fragmented lyric Disrupted song Broken personal verse Shattered emotional poetry Disjunctive lyric
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