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Despair

Psychology
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

Complete loss of hope; utter despondency that goes beyond mere sadness to an existential void—in poetry, despair often drives elegy and protest, distinguishing itself from depression by its acute, focused quality and its capacity to test faith, resilience, and the limits of language itself.

Detailed Definition
Despair in poetry reaches beyond sadness to existential void. It appears through stark diction, broken forms, and images of abyss or silence. Poets channel despair into powerful lament, protest, or nihilistic vision, yet often the very act of articulation resists total negation. From Job to Plath, despair tests faith and resilience, rendering human fragility with uncompromising honesty.
Example
Example in poetry:
Despair in Pablo Neruda's "The Song of Despair" expresses sorrow and loss; Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Carrion Comfort" argues against submitting to despair; Joseph Warton's "ODE AGAINST DESPAIR" bids farewell to joy; The poem "Despair" from Cowley describes weeping eyes and wasted cries; Robert Montgomery's poetry links oppression, despair, and death; "I love, and I despair" becomes the speaker's recurring song in one eighteenth-century poem.
Additional Notes
Despair in poetry reaches beyond sadness to existential void, appearing through stark diction, broken forms, and images of abyss or silence. Poets channel despair into powerful lament, protest, or nihilistic vision, yet the very act of articulation often resists total negation. In teaching, distinguish despair from depression: despair is the complete loss of hope, while depression is a broader clinical state. Despair often appears in elegy, tragedy, and religious poetry, testing faith and resilience. Encourage students to examine how a poem's turn or volta can transform despair into tentative hope or resignation.
Also Known As
Hopelessness despondency depression desperation gloom Anguish desolation desperatio Miseria Pessimism
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