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Caesura mark

Notation
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 typographic symbol (// or ‖) used in scansion to indicate a caesura—a pause or break within a metrical line of poetry.

Detailed Definition
Caesura mark: A caesura mark (often represented by two vertical dots ‖ or a double pipe ||) indicates a deliberate pause or break within a line of verse, typically occurring between words and independent of metrical feet; this rhetorical and rhythmic device allows poets to control pacing, create emphasis, or introduce dramatic tension—common in classical Latin and Greek poetry (e.g., dactylic hexameter) as well as in Old English alliterative verse, where it often divides the line into two balanced half-lines; in modern scansion, the caesura may be marked to highlight syntactic or breath-based interruptions that shape a poem’s oral performance and emotional cadence.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Old English poetry like Beowulf, a caesura mark often splits the line into two balanced halves: "Oft Scyld Scefing || sceaþena þreatum" (often rendered with a double vertical bar or space to indicate the pause); In Alexander Pope’s heroic couplets, a medial caesura creates rhythmic emphasis: "To err is human; || to forgive, divine."; T.S. Eliot uses a caesura for dramatic effect in "The Waste Land": "I will show you fear || in a handful of dust."; Contemporary poet Tracy K. Smith employs caesura in “The United States Welcomes You”: "You have been warned. || Do not speak."; In Shakespeare’s blank verse, caesurae vary line rhythm, as in Hamlet’s soliloquy: "To be, or not to be—that is the question: || Whether 'tis nobler..."; Emily Dickinson frequently uses dashes as caesura marks to create breathless, introspective pauses: "Because I could not stop for Death – || He kindly stopped for me –".
Additional Notes
The caesura mark denotes a deliberate pause or break within a metrical line, not dictated by line end; common in classical and Old English poetry (e.g., Beowulf), it creates rhythmic variation, dramatic emphasis, or breath control, enhancing oral performance and structural complexity.
Also Known As
caesura symbol medial pause mark
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