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Varied envoi

Structure
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 closing stanza that shifts in form, tone, or content from the main body, offering variation rather than fixed repetition.

Detailed Definition
A concluding stanza that varies structurally or thematically from the established pattern of the main poem, common in ballades where the envoi may differ in form or content from preceding stanzas. The variation signals transition from main body to conclusion while allowing formal flexibility. This technique demonstrates how changing form can reinforce thematic shift, using structural variation to emphasize the distinctive function of concluding gestures.
Example
Example in poetry:
Dante’s Divine Comedy ends each canto with a varied envoi reflecting thematic shift; Edmund Spenser’s “Amoretti” uses varied envoi in sonnet endings to address his beloved; W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” shifts from elegy to public address in its envoi; Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck” varies envoi by shifting from “I” to “we”; Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen” uses prose envois that vary in tone from lyric to documentary; Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll love Ocean Vuong” ends with a self-addressed envoi that varies from despair to tenderness.
Additional Notes
The final stanza of a sestina or ballade that recycles key words in compressed form. In sestinas, the envoi uses all six repeated words in three lines. In ballades, the envoi addresses a prince or dedicatee. Can vary in structure while maintaining relationship to repeated elements. Provides resolution while summarizing key themes.
Also Known As
Variable envoy Changed conclusion Modified envoi Altered send-off Envoi variable
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