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Listing lyric

Genre
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 lyric poem structured around a catalog or enumeration of items, ideas, or experiences

Detailed Definition
A listing lyric builds its emotional or thematic core through cataloging—enumerating people, objects, memories, or sensations—to evoke abundance, loss, or identity; the cumulative effect of the list creates rhythm and resonance, turning inventory into introspection or social commentary.
Example
Example in poetry:
Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” includes listing lyric: “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”; Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” opens with a listing lyric of “angel-headed hipsters”; Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to My Socks” uses listing lyric to praise humble objects; Christopher Smart’s “Jubilate Agno” contains listing lyric praising God through all creation.
Additional Notes
Listing lyric accumulates images, people, or things to create rhythm, democracy, or overwhelm; Whitman pioneered it; use parallel structure to maintain coherence; avoid randomness—each item should contribute to theme or mood.
Also Known As
Enumerative lyric Catalog poem Inventory verse Listing elegy Enumeration verse Inventory Lyrical inventory
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