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little ending

Structure
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 small, understated concluding phrase or line that gently signals a poem’s end, often with quiet resonance rather than dramatic closure.

Detailed Definition
Little ending is a subtle, understated conclusion to a poem that avoids grandiosity in favor of quiet resonance, often using minimal imagery or a single reflective phrase; this technique, favored by poets like William Carlos Williams, emphasizes implication over declaration, leaving space for reader interpretation.
Example
Example in poetry:
little ending (A brief, often summarizing or epigrammatic final line or couplet, especially after a longer stanza or poem); A sestina's envoy; A very short, punchy moral provided at the end of a narrative poem
Additional Notes
little ending: A subtle, often anticlimactic or deliberately understated final line or couplet that concludes a larger poem, providing a quiet reflection rather than a grand, emphatic statement; related to submerged finality.
Also Known As
Minor ending Small close Petite conclusion Brief coda Codetta
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