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Hidden sound

Sound
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

Subtle sonic patterns not immediately apparent on first reading—internal echoes, distant alliterations, or faint assonance; they enrich the poem's auditory texture and reward attentive, repeated reading.

Detailed Definition
Hidden sound refers to subtle phonetic patterns—internal rhyme, assonance, consonance, or alliteration—not immediately obvious but contributing to a poem’s musicality and emotional texture; these covert sonic echoes deepen resonance and create subconscious unity across disparate images or ideas.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –,” hidden sound emerges in the silent pause before “Blue – uncertain – stumbling Buzz”; In John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” hidden sound resides in the unheard melodies (“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter”); In Wallace Stevens’ “The Snow Man,” hidden sound appears in the “nothing that is not there and the nothing that is”; In Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art,” hidden sound underlies the controlled tone masking deep loss
Additional Notes
Hidden sound refers to subtle internal rhyme, assonance, or consonance not immediately obvious but contributing to musicality; skilled poets layer these for subliminal rhythm.
Also Known As
Submerged phoneme Veiled assonance Covert resonance disguised sound Enigmatic sound
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