Home › Glossary › Letter C

Cross-textual hymn

Form
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 lyrical poem of praise that engages with or reinterprets prior texts

Detailed Definition
Cross-textual hymn is a devotional or celebratory poem that integrates language, imagery, or structural elements from multiple religious, literary, or cultural sources to construct a hybrid form of praise; by blending scriptural echoes, liturgical rhythms, and secular references, it creates a syncretic spiritual expression that transcends singular doctrinal boundaries.
Example
Example in poetry:
Walt Whitman’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” echoes biblical psalms in its hymn-like structure; Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” adapts Protestant hymn meter with secular themes; Langston Hughes’s “Prayer (2)” cross-references spirituals and blues; Lucille Clifton’s “won’t you celebrate with me” echoes psalmic thanksgiving.
Additional Notes
A cross-textual hymn blends devotional form with references to secular or literary sources; may secularize religious structure or sacralize worldly subjects; look for how borrowed hymn meter (e.g., common meter) interacts with modern content.
Also Known As
Intertextual hymn Referential psalm Allusive devotional Echoic sacred lyric Intertextual ode
Skip to main content