Home › Glossary › Letter M

Mourning stanza

Form
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

A stanza specifically composed to express lamentation, typically using somber diction and elegiac meter.

Detailed Definition
A verse paragraph or stanzaic unit within mourning poetry, providing organizational structure for expressing grief. Mourning stanzas, whether quatrains, tercets, or other forms, allow development of single aspects of loss while providing breathing space between thoughts, commonly employing regular rhyme schemes and meters that create formal framework for emotional expression, helping both poet and reader organize and process the complexities of bereavement through structured articulation.
Example
Example in poetry:
An entire stanza in Whitman’s "Lilacs" expressing sorrow for Lincoln; Milton’s stanza in "Lycidas" devoted to mourning; Rich’s stanza of elegiac protest; Byron’s memorial stanzas for Shelley; Poe’s lament-filled stanza in "Lenore"
Additional Notes
Verse unit organizing elegiac expression. Can be quatrain, tercet, or other form. Provides structure for developing mourning themes.
Also Known As
Mourning quatrain Elegiac verse unit Lament paragraph Dirge stanza Elegiac stanza Funeral stanza
Skip to main content