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Ecstatic speech

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

Inspired, rapturous poetic utterance suggesting divine influence.

Detailed Definition
Ecstatic speech in poetry denotes language that conveys a state of rapture, trance, or spiritual transport, often marked by fragmented syntax, heightened imagery, and rhythmic intensity; it seeks to replicate or induce altered consciousness, drawing from mystical, shamanic, or Romantic traditions where the self dissolves into divine or natural unity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Rumi’s Masnavi: “I am so drunk with love, I’ve lost my way!”; Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road”: “I swear to you, there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell”; Ginsberg’s “Howl”: “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness…”; Hildegard of Bingen’s ecstatic visions rendered in verse.
Additional Notes
Ecstatic speech uses fragmented, urgent diction to convey rapture; common in mystical or shamanic verse. Contrast with divine utterance’s measured tone.
Also Known As
Rapturous utterance inspired speech trance lyric mystical invocation Glossolalia
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