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Sullen

Mood
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

Describing a mood of silent resentment, gloom, and brooding displeasure, often conveyed through withdrawn tone or heavy imagery.

Detailed Definition
Sullen mood in poetry conveys brooding resentment through heavy diction, dark imagery, and withdrawn rhythm; it appears in adolescent verse, misanthropic lyrics, or post-betrayal poems—like some of Plath or early Eliot—where the speaker’s anger simmers beneath the surface, creating a mood of tense isolation that reflects wounded pride or unspoken grievance.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” the speaker’s sullen indecision (“Do I dare?”) conveys inner gloom; In “Dover Beach,” Matthew Arnold’s lament is sullen with lost faith; Sylvia Plath’s “Tulips” portrays sullen hospital isolation; Emily Dickinson’s “After great pain, a formal feeling comes” describes sullen numbness; In “The Waste Land,” T.S. Eliot’s characters show sullen spiritual emptiness; Thomas Hardy’s “The Voice” expresses sullen longing.
Additional Notes
Sullen mood denotes gloomy resentment or silent anger; signaled by curt syntax, dark imagery, and withdrawn tone—e.g., adolescent or rebellious speakers; related to morose, grim, and brooding moods; differs from defiant in its passive-aggressive quality.
Also Known As
Gloomy Morose Sulky Brooding Resentful
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