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Regret

Psychology
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

Regret in poetry conveys sorrow or remorse over past choices, often expressed through conditional phrasing, memory, or contrast between past and present.

Detailed Definition
Regret dwells in the conditional tense. Poetry expresses it through backward glances, “if only” constructions, or haunting imagery, framing it as a teacher or tormentor in the narrative of self.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” regret surfaces in the daughter’s complicity and survival; In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” regret lingers in the road not taken; In Emily Dickinson’s “After great pain, a formal feeling comes,” regret numbs the nerves; In W.B. Yeats’ “The Circus Animals’ Desertion,” regret questions the source of art; In Langston Hughes’ “Harlem,” regret simmers in deferred dreams; In Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong,” regret intertwines with self-reclamation.
Additional Notes
Regret—sorrow over past actions—is central to reflective poetry (Frost, Yeats); differs from guilt by its focus on consequence, not morality; poetic techniques include conditional syntax (“if only”), past tense, or temporal shifts; students should analyze whether regret motivates change or paralysis; note its link to memory—regret reshapes the past.
Also Known As
Remorse Sorrow Penitence Self-reproach Guilt coulda-shoulda-wouldabin deplore Hélas
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