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falconer

Historical Office
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 person trained to breed, train, and hunt with falcons, often in noble service

Detailed Definition
The falconer appears in poetry as a figure of aristocratic leisure, skill, and symbiosis with nature. Historically a prestigious role in medieval courts, falconry symbolized status and control. In verse—especially in metaphysical or heraldic poetry—the falconer represents mastery, freedom, and the delicate balance between wildness and discipline. Their presence often serves as an extended metaphor for love, governance, or spiritual aspiration.
Example
Example in poetry:
In medieval hunting lyrics, the falconer trains birds with aristocratic grace; Shakespeare’s sonnets compare lovers to falcons under the falconer’s glove; Victorian poets like Tennyson revive falconers in Arthurian verse; The falconer in Yeats’ "The Second Coming" symbolizes lost control (“the falcon cannot hear the falconer”); Falconers appear in heraldic poetry as emblems of nobility; Their art is contrasted with modern mechanization in nostalgic verse.
Additional Notes
Falconers were elite specialists in medieval hunting, training birds for sport and status; falconry was governed by strict sumptuary laws (e.g., only kings could fly gyrfalcons)—poetic falconers symbolize nobility, control over nature, or courtly refinement; their art appears in allegorical verse as a metaphor for discipline, desire, or hierarchy.
Also Known As
falcon keeper
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