Wrenched Accent: As Babette Deutsch phrases it, wrenched accent is 'The triumph of metrical stress over word accent when the two conflict' (195). Normally, a word like body typically has a strong stress on the first syllable and a weaker stress on the second syllable. However, the overwhelming pattern of surrounding meter can come into conflict with this natural stress pattern and even overwhelm it, as is the case in the last line of this stanza by Rossetti: And many's the good gift, Lord Sands, You've promised oft to me, But the gift of yours I keep today, Is the babe in my body. (qtd. In Deutsch 195)

 

Related Words

Wrenched Accent: As Babette Deutsch phrases it, wrenched accent is 'The triumph of metrical stress over word accent when the two conflict' (195). Normally, a word like body typically has a strong stress on t . . . View Full Definition

Hovering Accent: Another term for spondee. See spondee.

Antisthecon Or Wrenched Rhyme: A rhyme created by distorting a word, such as 'samoa' for 'some more of' in the limerick 'an old maid in the land of aloha.'

Acute Accent: A diacritical mark indicating primary stress.