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Forlorn

Mood
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 mood evoking deep sadness, abandonment, and desolation, often conveyed through barren landscapes or isolated imagery.

Detailed Definition
Forlorn mood in poetry conveys profound loneliness and neglect through sparse imagery, hollow sounds, and isolated settings; it appears in elegies, exile poems, or urban laments—like Poe’s “The Raven”—where the speaker feels cut off from comfort or connection, evoking empathy through the raw exposure of vulnerability and loss.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “The Raven,” Poe’s speaker is forlorn after the bird confirms eternal separation from Lenore; Emily Dickinson’s “After great pain, a formal feeling comes” describes forlorn numbness after grief; In “Fern Hill,” Dylan Thomas mourns lost youth with forlorn nostalgia; Thomas Hardy’s “The Voice” expresses forlorn yearning for a dead lover; Sylvia Plath’s “Mirror” portrays a woman forlorn by aging; In “Dover Beach,” Matthew Arnold laments a forlorn world without joy or faith.
Additional Notes
Forlorn mood suggests pitiful loneliness or abandonment, often with a touch of hope; conveyed through fragile imagery, minor-key sounds, and distant horizons—e.g., Emily Dickinson’s solitary speakers; related to desolate, mournful, and wistful moods; more plaintive than bleak or despairing.
Also Known As
Desolate Abandoned Lonely Woeful Heartbroken Despairing lorn comfortless woe-begone
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