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Parabole

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

The use of an implied comparison or simile; an extended comparison or allegory.

Detailed Definition
Parabole, in poetic usage, denotes an extended metaphor or allegorical narrative that conveys a moral, spiritual, or philosophical lesson through symbolic action and imagery rather than direct statement; unlike simple similes, paraboles unfold as miniature stories within the poem, drawing on familiar scenarios to illuminate abstract truths, as seen in biblical parables adapted into verse or in George Herbert’s devotional lyrics that dramatize theological concepts through domestic metaphors.
Example
Example in poetry:
Parabole: Jesus’s “Parable of the Sower” uses agricultural metaphor for spiritual receptivity; Kafka’s “Before the Law” functions as poetic parabole on bureaucracy; contemporary poet Franz Wright’s “East Boston, 1996” uses street scene as parabole for grace; parabole (Greek for “comparison”) implies extended metaphor with moral; it differs from allegory by focusing on single lesson; common in religious and philosophical poetry.
Additional Notes
Extended metaphor or comparison illustrating truth through story. Greek rhetorical term underlying parable poem. Related to allegory but typically briefer and more focused on single insight.
Also Known As
Extended comparison Parable figure Illustrative analogy Allegorical comparison
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