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Spoken sestina

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

A sestina adapted to sound like natural speech, often using colloquial diction

Detailed Definition
A spoken sestina is a six-stanza poem (traditionally of six lines each, plus an envoi) adapted for oral performance, often loosening strict end-word repetition to prioritize natural speech rhythms, audience engagement, and dramatic delivery while retaining the form’s recursive structure.
Example
Example in poetry:
Elizabeth Bishop’s “Sestina” adapts the form to conversational tone about a grandmother and child; Miller Williams’s “The Shrinking Lonesome Sestina” uses folksy diction within sestina constraints; contemporary spoken word poets like Sarah Kay perform sestinas with oral emphasis; Patricia Smith’s blues-inflected sestinas merge form with spoken idiom.
Additional Notes
A spoken sestina adapts the traditional sestina form to sound like natural speech; retains end-word rotation but uses colloquial language and relaxed meter.
Also Known As
Oral sestina spoken-word sestina vernacular sestina performed sestina Conversational sestina Speaking six-stanza
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