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responsive lyric

Form
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 lyric poem that replies to or engages with another text, voice, or situation

Detailed Definition
A responsive lyric is a poem structured as a reply—to another poem, a historical event, or a cultural voice—engaging in dialogue across time or ideology; it asserts poetic agency through reaction, reinterpretation, or corrective vision, often reclaiming marginalized perspectives.
Example
Example in poetry:
In the Psalms, responsive lyric appears as call-and-response between speaker and congregation; In African American spirituals, responsive lyric emerges through leader-chorus structure; In Pablo Neruda’s “Odes,” responsive lyric addresses everyday objects as interlocutors; In Joy Harjo’s “Eagle Poem,” responsive lyric invites reader participation through circular invocation
Additional Notes
Responsive lyric answers or echoes another poem, voice, or event, creating intertextual dialogue; it’s a form of poetic conversation that honors influence while asserting new perspective.
Also Known As
Call-and-answer verse Antiphonal poem Dialogic refrain Alternating-voice lyric Antiphonal poetry Call-and-response lyric
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