Home › Glossary › Letter G

grounding verse

Structure
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 stanza or line used to stabilize or anchor a poem's rhythm or theme.

Detailed Definition
Grounding verse denotes a stanza or line that re-centers a poem’s thematic or emotional trajectory, typically by reaffirming core values, returning to concrete imagery, or restoring syntactic order after fragmentation; it acts as a stabilizing force in experimental or emotionally volatile poetry, helping the reader reconnect with the poem’s central concerns—such as a return to domestic imagery in a war poem to emphasize loss or resilience.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Wendell Berry’s “The Peace of Wild Things,” grounding verse connects body and earth; In Gary Snyder’s “Riprap,” grounding verse maps stones and words; In Lucille Clifton’s “homage to my hips,” grounding verse celebrates bodily autonomy; In Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” grounding verse links tobacco fields to immigrant labor; In Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen,” grounding verse documents Black bodies in American landscape; In Layli Long Soldier’s “38,” grounding verse recounts Dakota land loss.
Additional Notes
grounding verse: A line or stanza of poetry that is notably concrete, literal, or factual, anchoring the poem's emotional or imaginative flight to a tangible reality; it prevents the poem from becoming too abstract.
Also Known As
anchoring verse stabilizing stanza grounding song base poetry Ballast line
Skip to main content