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scattered verse

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

Poetry with words or lines spatially distributed across the page

Detailed Definition
Scattered verse is poetry with words, lines, or textual elements distributed across the page in non-linear arrangements rather than conventional left-aligned stanzas. This spatial distribution becomes part of the poem's meaning, with white space and positioning contributing to interpretation. Scattered verse may suggest fragmentation, plurality, or the inadequacy of linear progression for representing certain experiences. The reader must navigate the visual field rather than following a predetermined path, creating active engagement with the text's spatial dimension. This form is related to concrete poetry and reflects modernist and postmodernist interest in exploring the page as visual space.
Example
Example in poetry:
In concrete poetry, scattered verse arranges words spatially like raindrops; In “Howl,” Ginsberg’s margin shifts create scattered verse on the page; Contemporary digital poetry uses scattered verse across screen; Student exercise: poem with words drifting diagonally like falling leaves; Another: scattered verse mimicking starfield with isolated words.
Additional Notes
scattered verse|Verse where lines are dispersed or irregularly spaced; often visually experimental and spatially expressive.
Also Known As
fragmented lyric dispersed stanza decentered poetry Constellation poem Dispersed verse Intermittent verse
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