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Time indicator

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

A word or image in poetry that marks temporal context, especially seasonal or diurnal cycles

Detailed Definition
Time indicator is a word, image, or phrase in poetry that explicitly or implicitly situates the verse within a temporal framework—such as “dawn,” “century,” or “once”—anchoring abstract reflection in chronological or cyclical time; this device structures narrative, evokes nostalgia, or underscores impermanence through calibrated temporal markers.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” “the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully” acts as a time indicator; Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 uses “That time of year thou mayst in me behold” as a time indicator; In “Because I could not stop for Death,” Dickinson uses “We passed the School, where Children strove / At Recess—in the Ring” as time indicators of life stages; In “Ozymandias,” “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” implies past imperial time; Contemporary poet Ocean Vuong uses “1999” as a time indicator in “Telemachus.”
Additional Notes
Time indicators in poetry mark temporal context, especially season or time of day; essential in haiku (kigo); include natural phenomena (e.g., “dawn,” “harvest moon”); avoid vague or artificial markers
Also Known As
Temporal marker chronological sign seasonal cue diurnal indicator Kigo
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