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Terminal repetition

Device
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

Recurrence of elements at the conclusion of lines, stanzas, or sections.

Detailed Definition
Words, phrases, or entire lines repeated at poem's conclusion to create structural unity and emphatic closure. Refrains in ballads and villanelles exemplify terminal repetition serving formal functions. Sestina envois compress all six repeated end-words into final stanza. Can involve exact duplication or systematic variation of recurring elements. Provides both architectural cohesion and thematic emphasis, reinforcing key ideas through strategic placement at poem's end. Successful terminal repetition makes inevitable-seeming returns feel freshly meaningful rather than merely mechanical.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Poe’s “The Raven,” terminal repetition appears in “Nevermore” at each stanza’s end; In “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night,” Dylan Thomas repeats “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” terminally; In “Annabel Lee,” Poe ends stanzas with “In this kingdom by the sea”; Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” uses terminal repetition: “I rise”; In “We Real Cool,” Gwendolyn Brooks ends each line (except last) with “We,” creating terminal repetition with syntactic twist.
Additional Notes
Words, phrases, or lines repeated at poem's end. Refrains in ballads and repeated envois in sestinas exemplify this. Creates structural unity and emphasis. Can be exact repetition or variation. Provides satisfying closure through return of familiar elements.
Also Known As
refrain closing repetition terminal echo end recurrence End repetition Epistrophic Rhyme Frame repetition end-line recurrence Epistrophe
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