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shifting caesura

Meter
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

The irregular placement of pauses within metrical lines to alter rhythm and emphasis

Detailed Definition
A shifting caesura is a metrical pause that moves position within successive lines of a poem, creating rhythmic variation and expressive flexibility; unlike fixed caesuras in classical verse, this mobile break mirrors natural speech patterns or emotional flux, enhancing lyrical dynamism.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Shakespeare’s sonnets, caesura shifts between mid-line and end-stopped: “When I do count the clock that tells the time”; In Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” caesura moves to match rhetorical emphasis; In “Ode to a Nightingale,” Keats varies caesura: “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains”; Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse uses shifting caesura between half-lines
Additional Notes
shifting caesura: The intentional movement of the main grammatical or rhetorical pause (caesura) within the line from one position to another throughout a poem, preventing a monotonous rhythm and mimicking natural speech.
Also Known As
Moving caesura shifting pause mobile break Caesura migration Caesural drift Dynamic caesura
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