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Eternity

Metaphysics
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

Timelessness or infinite duration, frequently contrasted with the fleeting nature of human life in poetic meditation.

Detailed Definition
Eternity in metaphysical verse represents the ultimate horizon against which earthly concerns are measured. Poets use it to magnify love’s potential immortality, critique temporal vanity, or imagine divine perspective, often employing spatial or mathematical metaphors to grasp what lies beyond linear time.
Example
Example in poetry:
John Donne’s “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” transcends time through spiritual love; Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death” compresses eternity into a moment; T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets” explores eternity within time (“In my beginning is my end”); George Herbert’s “The Flower” implies eternal renewal; Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” mocks linear time through repeated resurrections; Rumi’s poetry treats time as illusory compared to divine eternity.
Additional Notes
Eternity in metaphysical thought is God’s timeless realm, contrasted with temporal flux; poets use spatial or geometric conceits (e.g., circles, spheres) to represent eternity’s perfection—Marvell’s “The Definition of Love” laments lovers’ parallel lines that never meet, symbolizing human exclusion from eternal union.
Also Known As
Timelessness Perpetuity Infinite Duration Divine Permanence Infinity
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