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Cumbrous Verse

Adjective
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

Poetry that is heavy and cumbersome in style or structure, often difficult to read.

Detailed Definition
Cumbrous Verse describes poetry intentionally laden with heavy diction, complex syntax, or archaic forms to evoke difficulty, gravitas, or resistance; it may critique fluency or mirror thematic weight, as in late Pound or Geoffrey Hill.
Example
Example in poetry:
Alexander Pope mocks cumbrous verse in “Peri Bathous”: “With lab’ring lungs and slow, unwieldy pace”; cumbrous verse uses excessive syllables or Latinate diction; Victorian poets like Tupper wrote cumbrous moral verse; modern example: parody poets exaggerate cumbrous style for satire; this term critiques stylistic heaviness; it values concision over ornament.
Additional Notes
Cumbrous Verse: Poetry that feels heavy or awkward due to excessive syllables, difficult rhythm, or overloading with modifiers; often contrasted with light verse.
Also Known As
Heavy verse Awkward poetry Labored lines Unwieldy composition
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