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Rhythmic pause

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

A deliberate break in meter or flow, often marked by punctuation or caesura, to shape cadence

Detailed Definition
Rhythmic pause, or caesura, is a deliberate break within a poetic line—marked by punctuation or natural speech rhythm—that creates emphasis, tension, or breath; it modulates meter by interrupting expected flow, as in Old English alliterative verse or T.S. Eliot’s fragmented lines, allowing silence to become an active element of prosody.
Example
Example in poetry:
Caesura in “To be, or not to be—that is the question”; Emily Dickinson’s dashes create rhythmic pauses: “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—”; T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”: “And indeed there will be time / To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?’”; Old English poetry uses medial pause: “Oft Scyld Scefing || sceaþena þreatum”.
Additional Notes
Rhythmic pause (caesura) is a deliberate break within a line, marked by punctuation or breath; controls pacing and can create tension, emphasis, or dramatic effect.
Also Known As
Caesura midline break rhythmic breath silent beat Articulated rest Caesural marking rhythmic halt Stasis
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