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unstressed pause

Meter
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 subtle caesural break signaled without strong stress in a poetic line

Detailed Definition
An unstressed pause is a metrical break within a line of verse that occurs on an unstressed syllable or between words without punctuation, creating a subtle rhythmic hesitation that mimics natural speech or emotional nuance; unlike caesurae marked by commas or dashes, unstressed pauses operate through breath and timing, allowing poets to modulate pace and emphasis without disrupting syntactic flow.
Example
Example in poetry:
Unstressed pause appears in feminine endings: Shakespeare’s “To be, or not to be, that is the question”; modern example: Wallace Stevens’ “The Snow Man” uses extra syllables for breath; unstressed pause creates rhythmic variation; it’s common in iambic pentameter; this technique adds naturalness to speech rhythm; it often marks contemplation.
Additional Notes
Unstressed pause = caesura or breath without metrical weight; affects pacing. Mark in scansion—common in Old English or dramatic blank verse for natural speech rhythm.
Also Known As
Light pause Breath break Soft caesura Natural hesitation Feminine caesura
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