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omitted start

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 poem that begins mid-thought or action, deliberately excluding an expected opening

Detailed Definition
Omitted start is a compositional technique where a poem begins mid-thought, mid-action, or after a significant event, using syntactic or narrative ellipsis to imply a prior context that the reader must reconstruct, generating immediacy and interpretive engagement from the outset.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Frank O’Hara’s “Why I Am Not a Painter,” the poem begins mid-thought: “I am not a painter, I am a poet”; In William Carlos Williams’s “This Is Just To Say,” the apology starts without context: “I have eaten / the plums”; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” “You do not do, you do not do” omits the opening explanation; In Lucille Clifton’s “homage to my hips,” “these hips are big hips” begins without introduction.
Additional Notes
Omitted start begins mid-thought or action, implying prior context; creates immediacy or mystery—use enjambment or abrupt diction to signal the cut-in.
Also Known As
Abrupt opening mid-thought start cut-in beginning implied preamble Initial elision initial truncation
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