Home › Glossary › Letter S

Stopping caesura

Sound
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

A pause in verse functioning as an abrupt halt or stopping point

Detailed Definition
A stopping caesura is a pronounced pause within a line—typically marked by punctuation—that interrupts flow for dramatic or rhythmic effect; unlike fluid caesuras, it creates abruptness, tension, or emphasis, often highlighting a key word or emotional pivot.
Example
Example in poetry:
A stopping caesura creates a full pause mid-line, often marked by punctuation: “To be, or not to be—that is the question” (Shakespeare, Hamlet); “And miles to go before I sleep. //” (Frost, with implied caesura before final repetition); “Break, break, break, // On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!” (Tennyson); “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; //” (Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”)—the semicolon forces a hard stop.
Additional Notes
A Stopping caesura is a strong pause (caesura) in the middle of a line of verse that is marked by a clear grammatical punctuation mark (period, colon, semicolon), forcing a distinct rhythmic and syntactic stop within the line.
Also Known As
Stopping break halted caesura full stop pause Arrestive caesura
Skip to main content