Poem' sound effect

1. Sound Effects in Poetry
Alliteration, Assonance and Rhyme
& how they can contribute to
meaning

2. Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds
My stick fingers click with a snicker
Light footed my steel feelers flicker
. . . I’m light like the moon

3. Assonance
Repetition of vowel sounds
My stick fingers click with a snicker
Light footed my steel feelers flicker
. . . I’m light like the moon

4. Focus on sound not spelling
“Sleigh,” “ rain”, “page” assonate
though they are spelled differently.
“Cycle” and “sail” alliterate though
they are spelled differently.
“Ice” and “fish” don’t assonate. The
“ i” sound is different though it is
spelled the same.

5. onomatopoeia
Words that sound like what they
mean
• Some single words are
onomatopoeias
– buzz, ding-dong, bang, hush
– meow, woof, quack
– squeak, whisper, titter

6. onomatopoeia
• Alliteration or assonance can
create an onomatopoeia
– “the monstrous anger of the
guns: the stuttering rifles rapid
rattle”
The repeated r and t sounds
make this line sound like
machine gunfire

7. Rhyme--words with a similar
sound
Exact Rhyme-perfect assonance
on a stressed
syllable followed
by the exact same
sounds
Eye Rhyme--looks
like exact rhyme
but pronounced
differently
Examples of Exact
Rhyme
•
•
•
•
cat/sat
kitten/mitten
bumbling/fumbling
alone/stone
Examples of Eye
Rhyme
• Blood/Food
Cow/Low
• Love/Move

8. Near Rhyme
Consonance-- same final consonant
• home/same death/truth
Alliteration + Assonance+ different final sound
• blade/blame tight/tide
Initial Alliteration + Consonance
• blade/blood same/some
identical unstressed syllable following a different
stressed sound
• drowning/moaning

9. Other names for rhymes
Exact Rhyme is also called
Perfect Rhyme.
Near Rhyme is also called
•
•
•
•
slant rhyme
approximate rhyme
half rhyme
off rhyme
I will use “exact” and “near.”

10. Positions of rhymes
The splendor falls on castle walls
And snowy summits old in story
The long light shakes across the
lakes
And the wild cataract leaps to glory
falls/walls shakes/lakes are internal
rhymes. story/glory is an end rhyme.
All these rhymes are exact

11. Rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is a pattern of end
rhymes used in a poem.
Certain fixed forms call for certain
rhyme schemes.
We mark a rhyme scheme by labeling
the first final sound a. If the next
final sound rhymes with the first it
also gets an a, otherwise a b and so
on.

12. Labeling a Rhyme Scheme
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

13. Labeling a Rhyme Scheme
The world is charged with the grandeur of God. a
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; b
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil b
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod? a
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; a
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; b
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil b
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. a

14. Look for Internal Rhyme
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

15. Look for Internal Rhyme
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

16. Look for Assonance and
Alliteration
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

17. Look for Assonance and
Alliteration
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.