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Prolonged caesura

Sound
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

An extended pause within a line of verse, often marked typographically or through spacing

Detailed Definition
Prolonged caesura extends the internal pause unusually long—via ellipsis, em-dash, or wide spacing—to heighten suspense, grief, or contemplation; this amplified silence becomes an active element of the poem, forcing the reader to dwell in absence, uncertainty, or the unspeakable between words.
Example
Example in poetry:
A mid-line pause extended through punctuation and spacing: “I stood ————— and watched the world end.”; Ellipses creating drawn-out silence: “Then… … … nothing.”; Caesura emphasized by line indentation or visual gap; Dramatic pause before revelation: “And there, in the ashes ————— my name.”
Additional Notes
Prolonged caesura extends the pause unusually long (via spacing, ellipsis, or line break); heightens suspense, grief, or contemplation.
Also Known As
extended pause drawn-out caesura breathless break suspended silence Caesura expansion Extended caesura
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