Home › Glossary › Letter D

deletion verse

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

Poetry generated by removing words or phrases from a pre-existing prose or poetic source, revealing latent meaning through strategic deletion.

Detailed Definition
Poetry created by deliberately removing portions of existing text to reveal new poetic meaning, emphasizing the creative act of deletion and selection over original composition. This subtractive technique treats existing text as raw material, with the poet's art lying in choosing what to eliminate rather than what to add. The approach relates to found poetry and erasure techniques, celebrating editorial creativity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Deletion verse removes words to create new meaning: Tom Phillips’ “A Humument” redacts a novel into poetry; Ronald Johnson’s “Radi Os” erases Paradise Lost; contemporary poets like Jen Bervin erase Dickinson; M. NourbeSe Philip’s “Zong!” deletes legal text to expose slavery’s erasure; Jenny Holzer’s redacted government documents as poetic critique.
Additional Notes
Emphasizes the creative potential in subtraction rather than addition. Related to minimalist aesthetic principles. The challenge lies in finding meaningful patterns in the remaining text.
Also Known As
Erasure form Subtractive poetry Redaction verse Erasure poetry
Skip to main content