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Elation

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

Intense joy or exhilaration marked by soaring spirits and often a sense of liberation—in poetry, elation appears through rhythmic acceleration, bright imagery, and exclamatory language, yet its intensity is frequently tempered by fragility or foreshadowing of loss, making it a powerful counterpoint to despair in lyric and Romantic verse.

Detailed Definition
Elation in poetry bursts through rhythmic acceleration, bright imagery, and exclamatory language. It celebrates love, freedom, or transcendent moments, often linked to nature or divine grace. Poets use elation to counterbalance despair, offering glimpses of bliss. Yet elation is fragile; its very intensity can foreshadow loss, as in Romantic odes or ecstatic religious verse, where joy and mortality intertwine.
Example
Example in poetry:
Elation in Bliss William Carman's "Lord of My Heart's Elation" celebrates spiritual elation; Emily Dickinson's "Exhilaration is the Breeze" describes elation as lifting us from the ground; George Santayana's "A Toast" exalts wine as a source of ravishing ardor; "Elation" by one poet describes elation stitched as a mask over nihilism; Nature poems like "Nature's Elation" celebrate elated nature; The poem "Elation" compares elation to fingertip prints dancing.
Additional Notes
Elation in poetry bursts through rhythmic acceleration, bright imagery, and exclamatory language, celebrating love, freedom, or transcendent moments. Poets use elation to counterbalance despair, offering glimpses of bliss. In teaching, distinguish elation from exaltation: elation is intense joy, while exaltation implies a spiritual or elevated state. Yet elation is fragile; its very intensity can foreshadow loss, as in Romantic odes or ecstatic religious verse. Students should examine how poets use rising meter, open vowels, and imagery of light or flight to convey elation's soaring quality.
Also Known As
Euphoria bliss rapture exhilaration jubilation Joy
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