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Time-spanning lyric

Form
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 lyric that spans distinct timeframes—past, present, future—within a single emotional or narrative arc.

Detailed Definition
A time-spanning lyric addresses emotion or experience across multiple historical periods, tracing feeling's persistence or transformation through time. This form combines subjective expression with historical consciousness, exploring how personal and temporal dimensions intersect.
Example
Example in poetry:
Time-spanning lyric: a poem moving from childhood to old age in stanzas; Whitman’s “Song of Myself” encompasses lifetimes; A contemporary poem: “1985: I learn to ride a bike. / 2025: I teach my granddaughter.”; Time-spanning lyrics compress biography into emotional arc; They explore memory, change, and continuity.
Additional Notes
A lyric poem exploring multiple time periods or examining how feelings, perceptions, or situations change across temporal distance.
Also Known As
Time-based lyric Historical poem Temporal verse Diachronic composition Diachronic sonnet
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