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Stopped rhyme

Rhyme
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 rhyme that terminates abruptly—often mid-thought or against expectation—disrupting flow to create surprise, irony, or emotional jolt through premature closure.

Detailed Definition
Stopped rhyme occurs when a rhyme pair is sharply concluded—often through punctuation or syntactic break—preventing enjambment and emphasizing closure; this technique reinforces the autonomy of each line and can create a staccato, emphatic rhythm suitable for aphorism or satire.
Example
Example in poetry:
A stopped rhyme occurs when a rhyme is cut off or interrupted before completion: "The sky was blue / And so were—" (abrupt end); In Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—,” the expected rhyme after “Room” is withheld, creating tension; Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” uses near-stopped rhymes in its final stanza where repetition replaces resolution; A poem ending mid-rhyme like “She walked alone / Beneath the moon’s soft glow—” leaves the rhyme incomplete for dramatic effect.
Additional Notes
Stopped rhyme is a term for a rhyming pair of words where the rhyme occurs on syllables that are end-stopped (followed by a punctuation mark) rather than enjambed; this creates a distinct, emphatic rhythmic conclusion to the line.
Also Known As
Blocked rhyme halted rhyme stopped echo Arrested rhyme
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