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Parallel-opening sonnet

Form
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 sonnet beginning with repeated parallel structures across its lines.

Detailed Definition
A parallel-opening sonnet begins with two or more lines that employ identical syntactic and rhythmic structures, establishing a pattern that may evolve or contrast as the poem progresses; this technique immediately grounds the reader in a rhythmic expectation while allowing the volta to disrupt or deepen that initial symmetry for dramatic effect.
Example
Example in poetry:
A sonnet in which the first line of the octave and the first line of the sestet begin with the same word or phrase; A fourteen-line poem where the opening phrase of the first quatrain is repeated at the beginning of the third quatrain or the concluding couplet; A sonnet that begins both its first and second halves with a rhetorical question; A sonnet where the first lines of the main divisions are strikingly similar in tone and subject.
Additional Notes
Parallel-opening sonnet: A sonnet, often Petrarchan or Shakespearean, where the first line of the octave and the first line of the sestet, or even successive lines, share a parallel opening phrase or structure.
Also Known As
twin-opening sonnet mirrored sonnet balanced sonnet Anaphoric chain sonnet
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