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massing

Device
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

The concentration or accumulation of poetic elements in close proximity

Detailed Definition
Massing is a poetic device involving the concentration or accumulation of similar elements in close textual proximity, creating density and intensity through clustering. Whether applied to images, sounds, particular types of words, or other features, massing creates focused effects that can overwhelm, emphasize, or create textural richness. This technique is related to classical amplification and can serve various purposes from building emotional force to creating vivid sensory impressions. Massing differs from simple repetition by gathering varied but related elements rather than repeating identical ones, creating cumulative effect through association and proximity.
Example
Example in poetry:
Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” uses massing through cataloging crowds and objects; T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” masses cultural fragments into modernist collage; Contemporary poet Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” masses racial microaggressions for cumulative impact; Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” masses outcasts into prophetic vision; Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” masses resurrection attempts for dramatic effect; Ocean Vuong’s “Time Is a Mother” masses grief fragments into elegiac whole.
Additional Notes
massing|The gathering or accumulation of words, phrases, or images to create density and power in poetic expression.
Also Known As
poetic accumulation lyrical density textual concentration Conglobation
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