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Hagiography

Genre
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 genre that idealizes and venerates the lives of saints or heroes through reverent, often devotional biographical verse.

Detailed Definition
Hagiography in poetry refers to verse that idealizes or sanctifies its subject—often a historical, political, or cultural figure—through reverent language, symbolic elevation, and narrative simplification; while traditionally religious, modern hagiographic poems may critique or deconstruct the impulse to mythologize.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hagiography: The “Legend of Good Women” by Chaucer is a poetic hagiography, idealizing virtuous women in saint-like narratives to explore moral exemplarity.
Additional Notes
Hagiography: Biographies of saints, often idealized; in poetry, may appear as devotional verse or ironic saint-figures—e.g., Herbert’s religious lyrics or Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” as anti-hagiography.
Also Known As
Saint's life Sacred biography Holy life verse Martyrology
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