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elongated verse line

Form
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

A metrical line deliberately extended beyond conventional length, often to convey overflow of emotion, thought, or descriptive detail.

Detailed Definition
An elongated verse line exceeds conventional metrical or typographical norms—stretching across the page or containing numerous caesuras—to mirror thematic expansiveness, breath, or cognitive overflow; such lines, used by Whitman or Ginsberg, reject formal constraint in favor of organic rhythm and democratic inclusivity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Elongated verse line: Gerard Manley Hopkins’s long and heavily sprung rhythm lines; Walt Whitman’s free verse lines often run long to create expansive flow; Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” with extended lines that trail and build image; Lines that exceed typical metrical length to convey emphasis or expansive thought.
Additional Notes
A poetic line that is significantly longer than the norm for its context (e.g., a hexameter or heptameter in a poem otherwise dominated by tetrameter); creates a slowing or encompassing effect; useful for lists or sweeping descriptions.
Also Known As
Extended verse line Lengthened poetic line Prolonged verse Stretched line Attenuated line
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