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Yoke metaphor

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

An extended or artificial metaphor that yokes together disparate ideas or images through forced analogy, often creating striking but intellectually demanding poetic effects.

Detailed Definition
A yoke metaphor is a figurative comparison that links two disparate entities under a shared burden, obligation, or fate—often implying tension, imbalance, or forced union; derived from the agricultural yoke that binds oxen, this metaphor appears in poetry to describe relationships of power, love, or collaboration where connection entails constraint, as in marital or colonial dynamics rendered through the image of shared labor or strain.
Example
Example in poetry:
Metaphor linking disparate burdens: “The yoke of grief fits my shoulders now”; “Love’s yoke binds us, oxen in the same field”; yoke as shared fate or oppression; biblical and agricultural resonance; connects physical and emotional weight.
Additional Notes
Metaphor linking disparate concepts, often paradoxically. Related to conceit and Whit. Creates tension through unexpected pairing. Study metaphysical poetry for masterful examples of yoking technique.
Also Known As
heterogeneous ideas forced comparison
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