Home › Glossary › Letter L

Lyric abandonment

Concept
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

The thematic or stylistic act of forsaking emotional expression within a lyric poem

Detailed Definition
Lyric abandonment describes a poetic moment where the speaker relinquishes emotional control, formal restraint, or thematic coherence in an outburst of raw feeling; this technique heightens authenticity and vulnerability, often marking climactic points in confessional or Romantic lyric poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poem that begins emotionally but ends in silence or detachment, like some of Jorie Graham’s work; W.S. Merwin’s later poems that omit punctuation and emotional markers; a lyric that declares “I will no longer sing of love” and shifts to observation; poems that replace personal voice with objective description as a form of abandonment
Additional Notes
Lyric abandonment: A poetic stance where the speaker renounces emotional expression or poetic convention; may overlap with poetic renunciation (10081) or song desertion (10082).
Also Known As
Poetic surrender Emotional relinquishment Song forsaking Lyrical detachment Lyric apostasy
Skip to main content