Home › Glossary › Letter E

elaborate melodic line

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 poetic line with intricate sound patterns—elaborate alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rhythm—and ornate phrasing; it creates a rich, textured auditory experience, often with musical or decorative qualities.

Detailed Definition
Elaborate melodic line refers to a poetic line rich in internal rhyme, assonance, consonance, and rhythmic variation that mimics the fluidity and ornamentation of musical phrasing; such lines prioritize sonic texture and lyrical grace, often appearing in Romantic or Symbolist verse where sound becomes a primary carrier of emotion, as in Swinburne’s cascading, wave-like cadences.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale,” the line “Already with thee! tender is the night” shows elaborate melodic line through assonance and rhythm; In Tennyson’s “The Lotos-Eaters,” “Music that gentlier on the spirit lies” exemplifies elaborate melodic line; In Swinburne’s “The Garden of Proserpine,” flowing syntax and internal rhyme create elaborate melodic line; In Hart Crane’s “Voyages,” “O carib fire! / O burning thread of life” uses elaborate melodic line with lyrical intensity.
Additional Notes
elaborate melodic line: Highly ornamented or intricate sound patterning in verse; mimics musical embellishment.
Also Known As
Ornate melodic line Embellished phrase Elaborate ornamentation Coloratura line
Skip to main content