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Pause

Performance
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 deliberate silence within or between lines. It can create emphasis, suspense, reflection, or rhythmic shape.

Detailed Definition
In performance, a pause is not an absence of delivery but an active part of the poem's timing. Pauses may follow punctuation, interrupt a phrase, separate images, or allow an audience to absorb a difficult line. Their length and placement can change meaning: a brief hesitation may suggest doubt, while a long silence may convey grief or resistance. Skilled performers use pauses to make room for breath, thought, and response.
Example
Example in poetry:
Pause after a surprising image, such as “The moon was a locked door,” so the audience can absorb its meaning; Use a brief pause before the final word of a line to build anticipation, then deliver the word clearly; In reading Langston Hughes’s “Harlem,” pause after each question so the possible answers feel separate and unsettling; Take a longer pause after an emotionally difficult statement in a personal poem, allowing silence to become part of the poem’s expression
Additional Notes
A pause gives listeners time to absorb an image, anticipate a turn, or feel an emotion. Mark useful silences in a script, but avoid pausing so often that the poem loses momentum. Breath can guide natural pauses.
Other Meanings of “Pause”
Also Known As
Silence Dramatic Pause
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