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Recusatio

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

A poetic trope in which the speaker declines to write in a conventional or expected genre, often to assert artistic independence or humility.

Detailed Definition
Recusatio is a classical poetic trope where the poet modestly refuses to write in a grand or expected genre (e.g., epic), claiming inadequacy while often proceeding to do so anyway; it functions as ironic self-positioning and a strategy for managing audience expectations.
Example
Example in poetry:
Recusatio: poet feigns inability to write grandly: “I lack the lyre for epic deeds— / my pen sings only of small seeds.”; Horace’s Odes open with modest disclaimers; Modern: “Don’t ask me for odes— / I’ve only got grocery lists and sighs.”
Additional Notes
Classical rhetorical refusal to write about a topic (often while writing about it). Related to praeteritio. Study Catullus. Note ironic treatment of declining commissions.
Also Known As
Poetic refusal rejection topos excuse poem modest disclaimer
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