Home › Glossary › Letter E

Equipollence

Concept
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 poetic principle where opposing forces—voices, images, or ideas—possess equal rhetorical or structural weight, creating dynamic tension.

Detailed Definition
Equipollence in poetics describes a balance or equivalence between contrasting elements—such as sound and sense, form and content, or tradition and innovation—where neither dominates, creating a dynamic equilibrium that sustains tension and richness without resolution.
Example
Example in poetry:
Equipollence: In balanced poetic argument, equipollence appears when two clauses hold equal weight, as in Pope’s “To err is human; to forgive, divine,” where both halves carry moral authority.
Additional Notes
Equipollence: Logical equivalence or equal force between propositions; in poetry, may describe balanced antitheses or parallel structures that carry equal weight—e.g., in heroic couplets or gnomic verse.
Also Known As
Logical equivalence Equal validity Balanced truth Equivalent reasoning
Skip to main content