Home › Glossary › Letter S

Self-referential verse

Concept
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

Poetry that draws attention to its own construction, language, or status as a poem

Detailed Definition
Self-referential verse draws attention to its own construction, language, or status as poetry, often through meta-commentary, paradox, or textual play; this reflexive mode interrogates the act of writing, the limits of representation, or the reader’s role, aligning with postmodern aesthetics that foreground artifice over transparent mimesis.
Example
Example in poetry:
John Donne’s “A Valediction: Of Weeping,” reflecting on tears as poetic medium; Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art,” about the art of losing; Billy Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry,” describing how to read poems; Modern example: Ocean Vuong’s “Aubade with Burning City,” referencing its own form
Additional Notes
Self-referential verse draws attention to its own construction, language, or status as poetry; a hallmark of meta-poetic and postmodern work.
Also Known As
Meta-poem Self-conscious verse Reflexive lyric Poem-about-poetry feedback verse Internal referencing Metapoem metatextual verse
Skip to main content