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resonant recurrence

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

The echoing of sounds or motifs to create emotional or thematic resonance

Detailed Definition
Resonant recurrence describes the strategic repetition of sounds, words, or motifs that echo throughout a poem, accruing emotional or thematic weight with each iteration; unlike simple redundancy, this technique deepens meaning through layered returns, creating a sonic and conceptual architecture that binds the poem’s disparate elements into unity.
Example
Example in poetry:
The repeated “I have” in Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”; Refrain in Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle”: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”; The echoing “we” in Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”; Resonant recurrence of “you” in Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen”
Additional Notes
Resonant recurrence repeats key words, sounds, or motifs to create thematic echo and emotional depth across a poem.
Also Known As
Echoic motif Thematic echo Recurring resonance Haunting refrain cumulative refrain Layered repetend Representative echo mimetic repetition
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