Home › Glossary › Letter P

Palimpsest poem

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 poem that overlays or rewrites an earlier text while retaining traces beneath

Detailed Definition
A palimpsest poem explicitly evokes the metaphor of a reused manuscript, where earlier “texts” (memories, histories, voices) remain partially visible beneath the current layer; it uses fragmentation, intertextuality, and erasure to explore memory, revision, and the persistence of the past in the present.
Example
Example in poetry:
Palimpsest poem in Tom Phillips’ “A Humument” overwriting Victorian novel; Susan Howe’s layered historical texts; palimpsestic erasures in Jen Bervin’s “Nets”; M. NourbeSe Philip’s “Zong!” rewriting slave-ship documents
Additional Notes
Presents visible layers of text and meaning, often showing revision or erasure. Can be literal (strikethrough) or thematic. Study erasure poetry and Pound's revisions for technique inspiration.
Also Known As
Layered poem Overwritten verse Erased text Revised-over poetry
Skip to main content