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Ornamental device

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

Any technique used primarily for aesthetic embellishment rather than semantic function

Detailed Definition
An ornamental device is any stylistic technique—such as alliteration, caesura, chiasmus, or hyperbaton—used to embellish poetic language and enhance aesthetic pleasure without necessarily advancing narrative or argument; it reflects the poet’s craft in shaping sound and rhythm for sensory impact.
Example
Example in poetry:
Alliteration in “Once upon a midnight dreary” (Poe) is an ornamental device; caesura in Anglo-Saxon verse like “Beowulf” serves as ornamental pause; enjambment in Shakespeare’s sonnets acts as ornamental device for emphasis; metaphor in Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (“unravish’d bride”) is ornamental device elevating subject.
Additional Notes
An ornamental device is a stylistic flourish (e.g., alliteration, metaphor, caesura) used for aesthetic enhancement; central to adorned poetry and poetic embellishment.
Also Known As
Figurative ornament stylistic flourish poetic device rhetorical embellishment decorative technique Poetic ornamentation
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