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Demiurge

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

In poetic theory, the poet as a divine or demiurgic creator who shapes reality through language, echoing Platonic or Gnostic cosmogonic figures.

Detailed Definition
A Demiurge in poetic cosmology is a divine craftsman or creator figure who shapes the material world, often derived from Platonic or Gnostic thought; poets invoke the demiurge to explore themes of artistic creation, flawed order, or cosmic design—as in William Blake’s Urizen or Wallace Stevens’s “The Idea of Order at Key West,” where the poet assumes demiurgic power to impose meaning on chaos.
Example
Example in poetry:
Blake’s “The Tyger” invokes the demiurge: “What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”; Gnostic poetry often portrays the demiurge as flawed creator; In Philip K. Dick’s poetic fragments, the demiurge symbolizes false reality; Modern eco-poets recast the demiurge as industrial capitalism shaping nature.
Additional Notes
In poetry, a creative force or persona that shapes the poem's world. From Greek "craftsman." Often used in modernist and postmodern contexts. Compare with speaker, persona, and implied author concepts.
Also Known As
creator-poet world-making poet
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