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hap

Archaic Terms
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

Chance or fortune, especially good luck—used in poetic expressions of fate, destiny, or divine providence.

Detailed Definition
“Hap” frames fate as random, not divine—“by hap” means by accident. In poetry, it questions providence versus chaos. Hardy’s “Hap” laments a universe without design. The term’s brevity suits philosophical verse, where luck replaces destiny. Poets use it to explore contingency, vulnerability, or the absence of cosmic justice in modern and Romantic contexts.
Example
Example in poetry:
“By hap, they met beneath the cherry tree,” in a romance of chance; In Chaucer: “By hap it fell that she was there”; “No hap, but fate, brought us together,” argues the fatalist; “Good hap attend thee on thy journey,” a blessing in medieval verse; “Ill hap followed him like a shadow,” a line of tragic portent; Hap may guide the arrow, but skill draws the bow.
Additional Notes
“Hap” denotes chance governed by fortune rather than fate; in medieval and Renaissance poetry, “by hap” introduces unexpected turns, reflecting a worldview where luck—not destiny—shapes human outcomes, often with moral ambiguity.
Also Known As
luck fortune chance
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