SOUND DEVICES Consonance, Assonance, and Internal Rhyme

CONSONANCE  Pleasing sound caused by the repetition of consonant sounds within sentences, phrases, or in poems.  Typically, this repetition occurs at the end of the words.  Example words: Blank and think Sent and went Dawn goes down Sorrow and borrow I’ll swing by my ankles. She’ll cling to your knees. As you hang by your nose, From a high-up trapeze. But just one thing, please, As we float through the breeze, Don’t sneeze. - “The Acrobats” by Shel Silverstein

ASSONANCE  The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words.  It is used to reinforce the meanings of words or to help create the mood.  the long “o” sounds old or mysterious in Carl Sandburg’s Early Moon: “Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. It is among the oldest living things. So old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came.”  “Hear the mellow wedding bells” – by Edgar Allan Poe  Try to light the fire.

INTERNAL RHYME  Two or more rhyming words occur within the same or separate sentences. Examples of rhyme in the same line:  I went to town to buy a gown. / I took the car and it wasn’t far.  I lost my dog in the midst of fog. / He found his way home, he doesn’t like to roam. Examples of rhyme in separate lines:  I wore a shiny new bow upon my head. / I began to grow and it fit me no more.  I’d like to jump into the ocean. / But don’t dump me instead.