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usurp'd

Archaic Terms
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

An archaic poetic contraction of "usurped," describing power, land, or titles seized illegally or by force.

Detailed Definition
In older English, this form means seized or taken over unlawfully. Donne compares the self to a city that has been wrongly taken, which fits the poem’s struggle between human will and divine power.
Example
Example in poetry:
“I, like an usurp'd town to another due” (Donne, “Holy Sonnet 14”); A usurp'd throne bears a ruler with no rightful claim; The invaded heart felt usurp'd by fear; “Usurp'd” is the archaic spelling of “usurped”; Donne's metaphor casts the self as a city occupied by an unlawful power
Additional Notes
The clipped archaic form in “usurp'd” is less familiar to modern readers than the common verb usurp.; Found in the poem, Batter my heart, three-person'd God by John Donne
Also Known As
seized appropriated commandeered
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