Home › Glossary › Letter S

simple lament

Form
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

An unembellished poem of grief that expresses sorrow directly, without elaborate metaphor, complex form, or ornate diction.

Detailed Definition
simple lament is a brief, direct expression of sorrow or regret, typically unadorned by complex metaphor or formal constraint; rooted in folk and oral traditions, it uses plain diction, repetitive phrasing, and emotional sincerity to convey personal or communal grief, functioning as both catharsis and testimony in moments of loss, injustice, or existential reflection.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Gone too soon— / No words left unsaid, / Only silence.”; “Rain falls. / Your chair is empty. / I wait.”; “The phone doesn’t ring. / I still answer.”; “Your coat hangs. / The hook holds. / I don’t.”
Additional Notes
Simple laments gain power through sincerity—avoid ornate language; use direct address, repetition, and plain diction to convey raw, unmediated emotion.
Also Known As
Plain elegy Unadorned sorrow Direct lament Bare grief Languet
Skip to main content