Poetry lyrical techniques

Rhymes Poems that don't rely on end rhymes at the end of each line are called free verse poems. Free verse poetry has become especially popular in the last one hundred years. Before that, poems almost always featured very structured end rhymes. Free verse gives the poet more room for creativity because it doesn't have the limits of traditional poetry. Many modern songs are free verse, meaning that they can rhyme, but they don't have to. Every rhyme in poetry is either an end rhyme or an internal rhyme, depending on where that rhyme is located in the poem. A rhyme can only be one of these two. It can't be both!

End Rhyme End rhymes are located at the end of different lines of poetry. There are a multitude of rhyme schemes but only two ways to rhyme: True Rhymes or Slant Rhymes

True Rhyme True rhymes have the same exact sound. Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Slant Rhyme Slant rhymes have similar, but slightly different, sounds. “Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all – Hope is the things with feathers by Emily Dickinson

Internal Rhyme Internal rhymes are located within the lines of poetry. Refers to sounds used within the body of a poem to create musical quality Different techniques include: Alliteration Assonance Consonance

Alliteration Alliteration is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first sound, occur close together in a series. Dunkin’ Donuts, PayPal, Best Buy, Coca-Cola Mickey Mouse, Lois Lane, Clark Kent, Marilyn Monroe From Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” “Up the aisle, the moans and screams merged with the sickening smell of woolen black clothes worn in summer weather and green leaves wilting over yellow flowers.” An important point to remember here is that alliteration does not depend on letters but on sounds: Clark Kent, for example. Additionally, to achieve alliteration the words do not need to be directly next to each other.

Assonance Assonance takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound. These sounds could occur at the beginning, middle or end of the word. Go and mow the lawn. The engineer held the wheel to steer the vehicle. “I must confess that in my quest I felt depressed and restless.” – With Love by Thin Lizzy “Strips of tinfoil winking like people” – The Bee Meeting by Sylvia Plath Note: These words typically start with different consonant sounds.

Consonance Consonance takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same consonant sound. These sounds could occur at the beginning, middle or end of the word. “Rap rejects my tape deck, ejects projectile Whether Jew or gentile, I rank top percentile Many styles, more powerful than gamma rays My grammar pays, like Carlos Santana plays” From the song ‘Zealots’ by Fugees

How does this relate to tone? Rhyme is incredibly important to create musical lines and sentences. In English there are harsh sounds and softer ones, phrases that seem quick and energetic and others that are slow, deliberate, meditative or mournful, while still others might seem to have a humorous and playful lilt. Searching for just the right word or intentionally creating sound through rhyme is how authors create tone.

Practice with Internal Rhyme Listen to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfUhOXdyR9U

Now you try… Journal #13 Using Alliteration, Assonance and Consonance write about a something that makes you angry, something that makes you sad, and something that makes you happy. Focus on one literary technique per feeling; you choose which technique you would like to use with each feeling. You should write one stanza per feeling/technique. Ex: Angry/Consonance (1 stanza = 3-5 lines) Sad/Assonance(1 stanza = 3-5 lines) Happy/Alliteration(1 stanza = 3-5 lines)