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Inwardness

Philosophy
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

Inwardness signifies deep subjective interiority—private thought, feeling, or conscience. Kierkegaard prized it as site of authentic faith and choice.

Detailed Definition
Poetry cultivates inwardness through introspective voice, confessional tone, or psychological depth. Philosophically, it resists external authority, framing the lyric as sanctuary where truth emerges not from spectacle but from silent, self-communing reflection amid public noise.
Example
Example in poetry:
Emily Dickinson’s sealed letters and reclusive life manifest poetic inwardness; Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies dive into soul’s hidden chambers; Sylvia Plath’s Ariel poems explore psyche’s labyrinthine depths; Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “terrible sonnets” wrestle with spiritual doubt in solitude; W.B. Yeats’s “The Circus Animals’ Desertion” turns inward after mythic exhaustion; Louise Glück’s The Wild Iris uses flower monologues to reveal inner emotional landscapes.
Additional Notes
Inwardness (Kierkegaard) is deep subjective interiority. In poetry, it appears as confessional voice: Dickinson, Plath, Hopkins. Students should distinguish inwardness from solipsism—it’s ethical self-communing. Related to subjectivity, conscience, and authenticity. Professors can link it to Protestant conscience and modern alienation.
Also Known As
Interiority Inner life Subjectivity Introversion
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