Discordant three-liner

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

A three-line stanza that deliberately employs jarring, dissonant, or clashing sounds to evoke tension or unease.

Detailed Definition
Discordant three-liner is a tercet characterized by harsh sounds, clashing imagery, or thematic conflict. The three-line unit employs cacophonous language, rough rhythms, or oppositional content to create tension rather than the harmony or unity often expected in compact stanzaic forms.
Example
Example in poetry:
Harsh-sounding tercets in Dante's "Inferno"; Three-line units with clashing consonants; Experimental triplets using cacophony; War poetry tercets matching violent content
Additional Notes
Alternate term for harsh tercet or cacophonous triplet. Emphasizes three-line structure and discordant sound. May be used in translations of Dante where harsh sounds match infernal imagery.
Also Known As
Dissonant tercet Clashing triplet Irregular three-line Cacophonous triplet
Skip to main content