You Can Write Poetry - Jeff Mock [27]
Assonance is the repetition of identical vowel sounds: "Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows." Like alliteration, assonance occurs naturally and can be used to excess. But vowel sounds are softer than consonant sounds and tend to glide by. The key to assonance is noticing the predominant vowel sounds and modulating them. Notice in the line quoted above that both preceding and following the e sounds are o sounds, in "Soft" and "blows." Neither vowel sound overpowers the line. The o gives way to the e, and the e gives way back to the o. Because English vowels can be pronounced a number of ways, the spelling of a word doesn't always guide you in creating assonance. The vowel a, for example, is pronounced differently in pat, pay, care and far. Don't trust the spelling of a word; trust your ear.
Consonance is alliteration taken one step farther: Two or more consonant sounds are repeated in words with dissimilar vowel sounds. In "The sound must seem an Echo to the sense," consonance occurs in the s and n sounds of sound and sense. The consonants make similar sounds; the vowels make different sounds. Such combinations as chatter and chitter, dope and dupe, and flick and flock employ consonance.
Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitate sounds and suggest their meaning, as does lash in "But when loud surges lash the sounding shore." English is rich with words that can be used for onomatopoeia: Buzz, crack, hiss, murmur, sizzle, snap and whirr are only a few. Onomatopoeia is effective because the words reproduce natural sounds. They sound out what they mean.
The effects of sound always work with context. Alliteration and assonance can tie important words—and their ideas—together. The metaphor "the shoal of her refusal," for example, makes use of alliteration to unify its parts through sound: shoal and refusal. Meaningful sound takes two words and unites them in a single compact idea. As you write, listen to your words. The best way to develop a good ear is to write and hear, over and over. When you write an important word, listen to its sounds, then write words that repeat those sounds. Working together in a poem, your meaningful sounds will create music.
PRACTICE SESSION
1. Write a draft with the word round in the first line. In at least every other line, repeat the o sound of round twice. Repeat this exercise with the words stay, feed, pie and boot. In each draft include an image of an urban landscape.
2. Write a draft with the word bother in the first line. In alternate lines, repeat the b and th sounds, respectively, twice per line. Repeat this exercise with the words cane, steal, fog and ward. In each draft include a metaphor and one exotic word.
Rings and Chimes: Rhyme
The best known device of sound is rhyme, the repetition of vowel and consonant sounds. It's what our grade-school teachers taught us poetry is: lines that rhyme. But rhyme isn't all there is to poetry. Over the course of years, rhyme comes in and goes out of fashion. For much of the twentieth century, rhyme has been out of fashion, used only in special situations, as other devices of sound are, to tie important words together through sound.
Recent years, however, have seen rhyme coming back into fashion. While contemporary poets don't feel obligated to rhyme their poems, at least not consistently, a growing number make use of rhyme. It's a guide that helps them through the numerous drafts of their poems. It helps them organize and discover. Then, in the finished poems, rhyme is a guide that leads the reader through. Whichever sort of poet you are, an always rhymer or occasional rhymer, it's helpful to understand the various