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Laud

Technique
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 formal poem of praise, often ceremonial, celebrating a person, event, or ideal with elevated diction and structure.

Detailed Definition
A laud is a poetic encomium that extols a person, event, or ideal, typically using elevated diction and traditional forms. Found in odes, panegyrics, and religious verse, lauds serve communal or ritual functions—honoring heroes, saints, or civic virtues—and reflect poetry’s ancient role in affirming cultural values and collective memory.
Example
Example in poetry:
Pindar’s Olympian Odes laud victorious athletes with elevated diction and mythic allusions; Ben Jonson’s “To Penshurst” lauds the Sidney estate as a model of virtue and hospitality; Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” lauds Abraham Lincoln as a fallen hero; A contemporary laud might read: “O poet of the people’s voice, / Your lines give silenced souls a choice”; Another example: “For Maya Angelou, whose words still rise / Like doves against indifferent skies.”
Additional Notes
A laud is a formal poem of praise, often elevated in diction and structure, celebrating individuals, virtues, or divine figures; rooted in classical encomium and Pindaric odes, it appears in Renaissance panegyrics and modern tributes; effective lauds balance specificity with universality—avoiding flattery through concrete imagery and emotional sincerity; related forms include the epithalamion (wedding praise) and elegy (which may include laudatory elements); students should study how tone, metaphor, and rhythm contribute to dignified celebration without sentimentality.
Also Known As
Encomium Panegyric Eulogy (in poetic context)
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