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Invocative

Device
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 style or opening that calls upon a deity, muse, or absent figure for inspiration

Detailed Definition
Invocative poetry directly addresses an absent, abstract, or supernatural entity—such as a muse, nature spirit, or idealized figure—as a rhetorical and spiritual strategy; this mode establishes intimacy, urgency, or reverence, positioning the poem as both prayer and artistic act.
Example
Example in poetry:
John Milton’s “Sing Heav’nly Muse” in Paradise Lost directly invokes divine inspiration; Homer’s “Sing, goddess, the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles” opens the Iliad with a classic invocative plea; Rainer Maria Rilke’s “You must change your life” in “Archaic Torso of Apollo” functions as an invocative command from the statue to the viewer; Elizabeth Alexander’s “Praise Song for the Day” invokes communal spirit through repeated “praise” refrains; Joy Harjo’s “Eagle Poem” begins with “To pray you open your whole self,” an invocative gesture to the sacred; Lucille Clifton’s “won’t you celebrate with me” opens with an invocative question inviting shared witness.
Additional Notes
Invocative: Describes a poem or passage that is characterized by calling upon or addressing a person, entity, or object; often rhetorical and marked by the use of apostrophe (direct address).
Also Known As
evocative call supplicatory voice invocational form Apostrophic
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