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Crestfallen

Mood
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 mood of dejection and loss following dashed hopes or failed expectations, marked by subdued energy.

Detailed Definition
Crestfallen mood in poetry expresses deflated hope through slumped rhythm, muted imagery, and quiet diction; it appears in post-rejection lyrics, failed quest poems, or personal laments—like Hardy or Plath—where the speaker’s initial confidence gives way to humble sorrow, capturing the human vulnerability in the gap between expectation and reality with tender realism.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “The Raven,” Poe’s speaker becomes crestfallen as hope for reunion with Lenore vanishes; Emily Dickinson’s “After great pain, a formal feeling comes” describes the numb aftermath of grief, a crestfallen state; In “Fern Hill,” Dylan Thomas mourns lost youth with crestfallen nostalgia (“Time held me green and dying”); Sylvia Plath’s “Tulips” conveys crestfallen exhaustion in hospital recovery (“I am nobody”); In “One Art,” Elizabeth Bishop’s controlled tone cracks at the end, revealing crestfallen loss (“—Even losing you”); Robert Frost’s “Out, Out—” ends with stunned, crestfallen silence after a boy’s death (“And they, since they / Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs”).
Additional Notes
Crestfallen mood captures dejection after disappointment or failure; signaled by drooping syntax, muted colors, and downward imagery—e.g., fallen leaves or slumped posture; related to dejected, disheartened, and sorrowful moods; useful for exploring vulnerability or the aftermath of loss.
Also Known As
Dejected Disheartened Downcast Disappointed Sad
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