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Sacred lyric

Genre
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 expressing religious devotion, reverence, or spiritual contemplation

Detailed Definition
Sacred lyric is devotional poetry that expresses religious experience, prayer, or theological reflection through intimate, first-person voice; it spans traditions from the Psalms and Sufi verse to George Herbert’s metaphysical hymns, blending personal emotion with spiritual aspiration.
Example
Example in poetry:
George Herbert’s “The Altar” shapes poem as devotional object in sacred lyric; John Donne’s “Holy Sonnets” fuse personal crisis with divine address; Rumi’s ghazals express mystical union as sacred lyric; Hildegard of Bingen’s “O viridissima virga” merges chant and vision in sacred lyric.
Additional Notes
Sacred lyric expresses religious devotion, spiritual inquiry, or mystical experience; often employs traditional forms and elevated language—contrasts with vulgar expression or crisis verse.
Also Known As
Devotional lyric spiritual verse religious song prayerful stanzas Devotional song Devotional verse Mystical lyric Pious verse
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