Home › Glossary › Letter R

Retraction sonnet

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 sonnet that formally withdraws, qualifies, or negates an earlier assertion, often pivoting at the volta to revise its stance.

Detailed Definition
A sonnet that formally withdraws or reverses previous claims or positions, using the structured fourteen-line form to emphasize the deliberateness and completeness of retraction. Related to the classical palinode tradition of formal reversal, this form treats withdrawal seriously, according it the dignity of full sonnet treatment. The retraction may be sincere change of position or ironic rhetorical device, but the formal structure marks its significance.
Example
Example in poetry:
“I said I’d never love again— / But then your eyes rewrote my vow.”; “This poem ends in bitter truth— / Or so I thought, until you smiled.”; “All joy is gone—yet here you stand, / And light returns to barren land.”
Additional Notes
Sonnet formally withdrawing previous claims or positions. The structured form emphasizes seriousness of retraction. May be sincere recantation or ironic rhetorical device.
Also Known As
Palinode sonnet Recantation fourteen-liner Reversal sonnet Withdrawal poem Epanorthotic sonnet Recanting sonnet
Skip to main content