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Doomsters

Archaic Terms
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

Fate-bringers or figures of doom; here, forces that bring suffering.

Detailed Definition
“Doomsters” is a rare poetic plural suggesting powers that determine or impose a person’s fate. Hardy personifies them as beings who heap troubles upon human life before the unborn child even arrives.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The Doomsters heap / Travails and teens around us here” (archaic poetic usage); “Doomsters” means judges or those who pronounce doom; “The doomster weighed each soul” (medieval-style context); “Before the doomsters, kings and beggars stood alike” (judgment imagery)
Additional Notes
The unusual noun “Doomsters” in “The Doomsters heap” is not a common modern word and requires interpretation.; Found in the poem, To an Unborn Pauper Child by Thomas Hardy
Also Known As
harbingers of doom foreboding figures fate-bringers
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