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Ornate close

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 highly decorative or elaborate ending to a poem, marked by rhetorical flourish or symmetry

Detailed Definition
An ornate close is a poem’s concluding lines that deploy heightened diction, intricate syntax, or elaborate imagery to provide a sense of ceremonial or aesthetic culmination; unlike understated endings, the ornate close—seen in Milton’s epic invocations or Baroque lyrics—uses linguistic richness to signal finality, transcendence, or rhetorical triumph, leaving a resonant, often decorative afterimage.
Example
Example in poetry:
Keats’s "Ode on a Grecian Urn" closes ornately: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know"; Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 ends with elevated couplet; Milton’s "Lycidas" closes with pastoral flourish: "At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue"; Tennyson’s "Ulysses" ends with heroic resolve: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield"; Donne’s "Death Be Not Proud" concludes with triumphant paradox.
Additional Notes
An ornate close uses elaborate, syntactically complete final lines—often with elevated diction or rhetorical flourish—to provide satisfying closure (e.g., Shakespearean sonnet couplets). It contrasts with open or fragmented endings. Students should analyze how closure is achieved: resolution, twist, or echo? Related to “poetic closure.”
Also Known As
Ornamental close Decorative ending Flourished finale Embellished conclusion Decorated ending Decorated finale
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