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Harmony

Concept
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

The pleasing arrangement of parts in a poem to create unity and balance

Detailed Definition
Harmony in poetry denotes the balanced integration of sound, rhythm, diction, and imagery to create a unified aesthetic and emotional effect; it arises when all formal elements work in concert, producing a sense of order, coherence, and resonant beauty that enhances the poem’s meaning.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” Keats achieves harmony between art, time, and truth; In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, summer and poetry harmonize to defeat time; In “The Peace of Wild Things,” human anxiety and natural calm resolve in harmony; In “Ars Poetica,” MacLeish seeks harmony between form and silence.
Additional Notes
Harmony is the sensed balance among sound, rhythm, imagery, syntax, and meaning that makes a poem feel proportioned or unified; it is a classical ideal, not merely pleasant sound. Harmony may arise through parallelism, recurring motifs, consonance, or a matching of form and subject. Contrast it with deliberate dissonance or tension. When revising, ask whether each element supports the poem’s overall emotional and intellectual effect.
Other Meanings of “Harmony”
Also Known As
Concord Symmetry Poetic balance Concinnity Concordia Sattva ceol siansa accord choir
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