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Labored lines

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

Verse that feels forced, effortful, or strained rather than natural or flowing

Detailed Definition
Labored lines describe verse that feels metrically strained, syntactically awkward, or rhetorically overwrought, often due to forced rhyme, unnatural diction, or excessive ornamentation; while sometimes unintentional, poets may use this effect deliberately to convey struggle, artifice, or psychological tension.
Example
Example in poetry:
Labored lines appear in John Milton’s “Paradise Lost”: “Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death”; In Gerard Manley Hopkins’ sprung rhythm: “No worst, there is none”; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy”: “Ach, du”; In contemporary poet Sharon Olds: dense, visceral syntax; In Seamus Heaney’s “Punishment”: heavy alliteration and caesura.
Additional Notes
Laboured lines are heavy, awkward, or strained; sometimes intentional for effect, sometimes criticised.
Also Known As
Strained lines Effortful verse Forced poetry Laborious composition Cumbrous Verse
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