Home › Glossary › Letter K

Kenotic figure

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 persona or symbol embodying self-effacement, sacrifice, or divine condescension

Detailed Definition
Kenotic figure is a poetic image embodying self-emptying or voluntary diminishment, often drawing from Christian theology of divine humility; it may depict a vessel pouring itself out, a tree shedding leaves, or a speaker relinquishing ego, symbolizing spiritual purification, sacrificial love, or the paradoxical fullness found in surrender and letting go.
Example
Example in poetry:
Christ in Herbert’s “The Sacrifice” as kenotic figure; The suffering servant in Isaiah 53; Rilke’s angel in Duino Elegies embodies divine self-limitation; In “The Collar,” the speaker becomes a kenotic figure through surrender
Additional Notes
Kenotic figures embody self-emptying, often Christ-like sacrifice; appear in devotional and modernist poetry; characterized by humility, silence, or service; distinguish from passive victims by emphasis on voluntary choice
Also Known As
Kenotic symbol self-emptying persona humble archetype incarnational figure Kenotic imagery
Skip to main content