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Suspended pause

Sound
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 rhythmic or acoustic break within a line—often via caesura—that suspends motion, creating tension and drawing attention to silence or contemplation.

Detailed Definition
A suspended pause is a deliberate break in a poetic line—often marked by dash, ellipsis, or caesura—that creates anticipatory tension by halting speech mid-thought or mid-phrase; unlike conclusive pauses, it implies continuation, inviting the reader to linger in uncertainty or emotional suspension, as in Dickinson’s use of dashes to fracture syntax and evoke breathless introspection or unresolved longing.
Example
Example in poetry:
A suspended pause delays resolution mid-line or mid-thought: “I cannot tell if—”; “She reached for the letter, then—”; “The door opened, and—”; In Dickinson, dashes create suspended pauses: “Because I could not stop for Death— / He kindly stopped for me—”.
Additional Notes
Suspended pause|A temporary delay in the rhythm or flow of the line, often achieved with a comma or dash, which creates tension before the thought is completed, a formal type of caesura.
Also Known As
Suspension pause Hanging caesura Poetic suspension Airborne caesura ambient pause
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