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Oblivion

Psychology
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

State of being forgotten or unaware; extinction of memory or consciousness.

Detailed Definition
Oblivion in poetry appears as void—erasure, silence, sleep. Poets use it to contemplate mortality, futility, or the limits of legacy, as in Horace's "exegi monumentum" or Hardy's dark elegies. Oblivion contrasts with memory and art, raising existential questions. It can be feared or desired as release from suffering. Poets confront oblivion to affirm life's fleeting beauty, making the poem itself a resistance against forgetting.
Example
Example in poetry:
Oblivion in Emily Dickinson's poetry where oblivion is a state of being forgotten; In W.H. Auden's "In Memory of W.B. Yeats," oblivion is a threat; In John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale," oblivion is a desired state; In contemporary poetry, oblivion is often existential; In "The Waste Land," oblivion is a spiritual condition; In "Dover Beach," oblivion is a fear.
Additional Notes
Oblivion in poetry appears as void—erasure, silence, sleep—contemplating mortality, futility, or legacy's limits. In teaching, distinguish oblivion from void: oblivion is the state of being forgotten, while void is absolute emptiness. Poets confront oblivion to affirm life's fleeting beauty, making poems resistance against forgetting. Students should examine how poets use imagery of erasure, silence, and darkness, along with meditative or elegiac tones, to convey oblivion's existential weight and the desire to be remembered.
Also Known As
Forgetfulness nothingness unawareness extinction erasure Forgetting nepenthe
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