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Erasure form

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 poetic form created by erasing words from an existing text to reveal a new poem

Detailed Definition
Erasure form is a poetic technique where a pre-existing text is selectively redacted—by blacking out, whiting out, or omitting words—to reveal a new poem in the remaining language; it comments on censorship, memory, or authorship while transforming found material into original expression.
Example
Example in poetry:
Tom Phillips’ “A Humument” creates erasure form by redacting pages of a Victorian novel to reveal new poems; Tracy K. Smith’s “Declaration” uses erasure form on the U.S. Declaration of Independence to critique liberty; Jen Bervin’s “Nets” applies erasure form to Shakespeare’s sonnets, leaving sparse lyric fragments; Ronald Johnson’s “Radi Os” constructs erasure form from Milton’s “Paradise Lost” to produce minimalist verse
Additional Notes
Erasure form creates poetry by selectively redacting words from an existing text, leaving a new composition; it’s a conceptual practice that comments on source material, censorship, or absence.
Also Known As
Redacted poem Palimpsest verse Censored lyric deletion verse Villanelle of Erasure
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