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Epigraph

Structure
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 short quotation placed at a poem beginning for context or theme.

Detailed Definition
Epigraph is a quotation, phrase, or motto placed at the beginning of a poem or section to suggest its theme, tone, or context; drawn from literature, scripture, or other sources, it frames the reader’s interpretation and creates intertextual dialogue between the cited and original text.
Example
Example in poetry:
T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” opens with Dante’s Inferno as epigraph; Sylvia Plath’s “Ariel” uses the title’s biblical and mythic resonance as implicit epigraph; Toni Morrison’s novels often open with poetic epigraphs; Ocean Vuong’s “Time Is a Mother” uses a line from his mother as epigraph; Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” opens with a tennis anecdote as epigraphic frame; Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” implicitly uses Rilke as spiritual epigraph.
Additional Notes
Epigraph is a quotation at a poem’s start that frames its theme, tone, or context; it can create intertextuality, irony, or homage, and should be read as part of the poem’s interpretive fabric.
Also Known As
Introductory quotation Prefatory inscription Opening citation Heading motto
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