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Deictic poetry

Concept
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 relies heavily on deictic words (this, that, here, now) to anchor meaning in context

Detailed Definition
Deictic poetry foregrounds deictic expressions—words like “here,” “now,” “this,” “I,” “you”—that anchor meaning to the immediate context of utterance, creating a sense of presence, immediacy, and direct address; by emphasizing spatial, temporal, or personal reference points, it draws the reader into the poem’s experiential moment, often enhancing intimacy or urgency.
Example
Example in poetry:
Charles Bernstein’s “Deictic Poem,” using “here,” “now,” and “this” to anchor shifting meaning; Lyn Hejinian’s “My Life,” where indexical language (“I saw,” “that day”) constructs identity; A poem beginning “Look at this page” to draw attention to the immediate textual space; Deictic markers in Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen”: “You are in the dark, in the car…”
Additional Notes
Deictic poetry uses context-dependent words (“here,” “now,” “this”) to anchor the poem in a specific moment or place; enhances immediacy and presence.
Also Known As
Indexical verse Context-bound poetry Here-and-now lyric Pointing poetry Demonstrative composition Referential lyric
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