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End-stopped verse

Device
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

Poetic lines that conclude with punctuation, creating a pause at the line’s end

Detailed Definition
End-stopped verse consists of lines that conclude with punctuation (period, comma, semicolon) creating a natural pause that aligns with syntactic and grammatical boundaries, promoting clarity, deliberation, and formal control; this technique contrasts with enjambment and is often used in neoclassical or meditative poetry to emphasize individual lines as complete thought units.
Example
Example in poetry:
Alexander Pope’s heroic couplets: “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, / As those move easiest who have learned to dance.”; John Milton’s “On His Blindness”: “They also serve who only stand and wait.”; Robert Frost’s “The woods are lovely, dark and deep. / But I have promises to keep,”; Shakespeare’s sonnets often end with end-stopped couplets for closure.
Additional Notes
End-stopped verse features lines that conclude with punctuation, creating a pause; it emphasizes clarity, control, and rhetorical weight, often used in neoclassical or formal poetry.
Also Known As
Paused lineation Terminated phrasing Full-stop meter Completed line Stopped verse line
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