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Epistle

Constraint
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 poem written as a letter, adhering to epistolary conventions of address and tone.

Detailed Definition
Epistle constrains poetry to the form of a personal or public letter, using salutations, signatures, and direct address; rooted in Horace and Pope, this form blends intimacy with artifice, enabling dramatic monologue or social critique within a communicative frame, and uses the illusion of correspondence to structure voice, audience, and confessional authenticity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Epistle poems: Alexander Pope’s “Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot”; Ovid’s “Heroides” as fictional letters; Elizabeth Bishop’s “Letter to N.Y.”; modern email epistles by Denise Duhamel; constraint epistles with fixed salutation/closing; epistolary sonnet sequences like Sidney’s “Astrophil and Stella.”
Additional Notes
Epistle is a poem in letter form—personal, argumentative, or philosophical. Pope and Bishop excel here. Students should consider audience and voice. Epistles allow direct address and narrative flexibility within formal bounds.
Also Known As
Letter poem epistolary verse
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