Home › Glossary › Letter S

spectral repetition

Device
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

The haunting recurrence of words, sounds, or images that evoke absence or memory

Detailed Definition
Spectral repetition is the haunting recurrence of words, sounds, or images in a poem that evoke absence, memory, or trauma; unlike regular refrain, it often appears distorted, fragmented, or displaced, suggesting the persistence of what cannot be fully articulated or laid to rest.
Example
Example in poetry:
In T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” the repeated “HURRY UP PLEASE ITS TIME” echoes as spectral repetition; In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” “Ich, ich, ich, ich” haunts as spectral repetition; In Seamus Heaney’s “Mid-Term Break,” the counting of bells (“counting bells knelling classes to a close”) becomes spectral; In Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen,” repeated microaggressions form spectral repetition.
Additional Notes
Spectral repetition echoes a word or phrase faintly, as if from a distance or memory; creates haunting or unresolved atmosphere—vary the repetition slightly to suggest decay or transformation.
Also Known As
Haunting recurrence ghostly echo revenant repetition lingering motif Spectral refrain
Skip to main content