Home › Glossary › Letter P

Postponed turn

Structure
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 rhetorical or thematic shift that is deliberately delayed until later in the poem

Detailed Definition
Postponed turn delays the volta—the emotional or logical shift—beyond the traditional sonnet position (line 9), creating suspense or subverting expectations; this technique allows for extended meditation or narrative buildup before revelation, making the eventual turn more surprising or profound, as in some modern or narrative sonnets.
Example
Example in poetry:
Postponed turn delays the volta until late in the poem, as in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 129: the turn comes in the final couplet; In “Ozymandias,” Shelley postpones the turn to the end: “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”; Another: a sonnet where the resolution appears only in the last two words
Additional Notes
Postponed turn delays the volta (emotional or logical shift) beyond the traditional sonnet position (line 9), creating suspense or subverting expectations; useful in narrative or meditative poems.
Also Known As
Delayed volta Deferred shift Late reversal Late pivot Postponed shift
Skip to main content