{"id":80,"date":"2017-09-04T06:18:30","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T06:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/?page_id=80"},"modified":"2017-09-21T13:57:14","modified_gmt":"2017-09-21T13:57:14","slug":"sound","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/sound\/","title":{"rendered":"Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u2b05 Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Sound<\/h1>\n

Objective<\/h4>\n

What defines poetry even more than its form is how it sounds. The way a poem marches from line to line or how onomatopoeia can bring a subject to life is what makes a piece poetic. In this section, we will look at the elements of sound in poetry.<\/p>\n

Elements of Sound<\/h4>\n

Rhythm <\/strong><\/abbr>is all around us. It is in the beating of our hearts; it is in the music we listen to; it is in the tapping of a pencil as we sit pondering things. Rhythm has the effect of making emotions palpable. For this reason, rhythm is employed in dance, music, and poetry. So what exactly is rhythm? It is the repetition of accents and beats. Rhythm in poetry is established by stressed and unstressed syllables and the length of lines.<\/p>\n

Rhyme is the matching end sounds of words. For words to rhyme, their vowel sounds and ending consonants must sound the same or must be very close (as in near rhyme<\/strong><\/abbr>). From a young age, we are led to believe that all poetry must rhyme. But breaking the chains of a rhyme scheme sometimes results in a great work of poetry.<\/p>\n

Sound Devices<\/h4>\n

Aside from the basic sound structure of poems, poets include several sound devices in their poetry to deepen the meaning of the work. Following are some of the most important sound devices in poetry.<\/p>\n

Alliteration<\/strong><\/abbr> comes from the Latin and means \u201cletters next to each other.\u201d Alliteration is achieved when successive words or stressed syllables begin with the same letter or consonant sound. This stylistic device is commonly used in poetry and prose and adds a certain quality of richness to rhyming lines. See if you can find the alliterative phrases in the following passage taken from Beowulf.<\/p>\n

Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,
\nleader beloved, and long he ruled
\nin fame with all folk, since his father had gone
\naway from the world, till awoke an heir,
\nhaughty Healfdene, who held through life,
\nsage and sturdy, the Scyldings glad.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two sound devices that are similar to alliteration are consonance<\/strong><\/abbr> and assonance.<\/strong><\/abbr><\/p>\n

Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds anywhere in a line or stanza. See the following quotation from Rudyard Kipling\u2019s The Jungle Book. Notice which sound is repeated and the overall effect it has on the passage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will not move till I order them. Stay you sssso!\u201d Kaa hissed, and the city was silent once more. . . .<\/p>\n

So this is the manling,\u201d said Kaa. \u201cVery soft is his skin, and he is not so unlike the Bandar-log.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The s sound is repeated throughout the lines. The effect is to make the snake\u2019s words sound like the hissing of a real snake.<\/p>\n

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in lines and stanzas without rhyme. Assonance has a soothing effect. Consider the first four lines of Shakespeare\u2019s Twelfth Sonnet. Look for the nonrhyming long i sound in each line.<\/p>\n

When I do count the clock that tells the time<\/p>\n

And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;<\/p>\n

When I behold the violet past prime,<\/p>\n

And sable curls all silver\u2019d o\u2019er with white;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Poe uses alliteration, consonance, and assonance to heighten the sense of madness in his poem \u201cThe Bells.\u201d Read the next few stanzas and see if you can find examples of all three of these sound devices. Reading it aloud will help you hear the sounds. Remember, they are easy to confuse. What is important is that you recognize that Poe is playing with sound for a specific effect.<\/p>\n

Hear the loud alarum bells-
\nBrazen bells!
\nWhat a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
\nIn the startled ear of night
\nHow they scream out their affright!
\nToo much horrified to speak,
\nThey can only shriek, shriek,
\nOut of tune,
\nIn a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
\nIn a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
\nLeaping higher, higher, higher,
\nWith a desperate desire,
\nAnd a resolute endeavor,
\nNow\u2013now to sit or never,
\nBy the side of the pale-faced moon.
\nOh, the bells, bells, bells!
\nWhat a tale their terror tells.<\/p>\n

Of Despair!
\nHow they clang, and clash, and roar!
\nWhat a horror they outpour
\nOn the bosom of the palpitating air!
\nYet the ear it fully knows,
\nBy the twanging,
\nAnd the clanging,
\nHow the danger ebbs and flows:
\nYet the ear distinctly tells,
\nIn the jangling,
\nAnd the wrangling,
\nHow the danger sinks and swells,
\nBy the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells-
\nOf the bells-
\nOf the bells, bells, bells, bells,
\nBells, bells, bells-
\nIn the clamor and the clangor of the bells!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Below are a few lines and how they may be labeled as assonance, consonance and alliteration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Alliteration, Consonance, and Assonance<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Device<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Example<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Explanation<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Alliteration <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u201cWhat a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Notice how the t<\/em> sound is the initial sound of tale, terror, turbulency, <\/em>and tells.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Consonance<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u201cHear the loud alarum bells-\u201c<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Here the l<\/em> sound is in the initial and secondary sounds of the words loud, alarum,<\/em> and bells.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Assonance<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\u201cIn the jangling,
\nAnd the wrangling,
\nHow the danger sinks and swells,\u201d<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Here the long a<\/em> sound is in the rhyming words jangling<\/em> and wrangling<\/em>, but lines contain assonance when paired with the word danger.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u201cThe Bells\u201d is an example of alliteration almost gone awry but, remember with Poe, there is always a method to his madness! He uses all the sound devices to build a sense of impending death and insanity.<\/p>\n

Another sound device is onomatopoeia<\/strong><\/abbr>. This is a word or group of words that imitate the object being described. Words like buzz and hiss are obvious examples. Less obvious though no less effective ones can be found in the following lines taken from Lord Alfred Tennyson\u2019s \u201cCome Down, O Maid:\u201d<\/p>\n

The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
\nAnd murmuring of innumerable bees.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While these lines contain consonance, the consonance serves as onomatopoeia. We can almost hear the murmur of the bees in this last line.<\/p>\n

Finally, poets often use repetition <\/strong><\/abbr>to convey emotion in their poems. Repetition might also be used to change the meaning of a word or idea. Read Robert Frost\u2019s \u201cStopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening\u201d and take note of his use of repetition.<\/p>\n

Those woods these are I think I know.
\nHis house is in the village though;
\nHe will not see me stopping here
\nTo watch his woods fill up with snow.
\nMy little horse must think it queer
\nTo stop without a farmhouse near
\nBetween the woods and frozen lake
\nThe darkest evening of the year.<\/p>\n

He gives his harness bells a shake
\nTo ask if there is some mistake.
\nThe only other sound’s the sweep
\nOf easy wind and downy flake.
\nThe woods are lovely, dark and deep.
\nBut I have promises to keep,
\nAnd miles to go before I sleep,
\nAnd miles to go before I sleep.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When Frost repeats the last line, he intends the reader to see beyond the literal meaning of needing to go a distance before going to sleep. The repetition forces the reader to look to a figurative as opposed to a literal meaning of the word sleep.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2b05 Previous Lesson<\/a>\u00a0Workshop Index<\/a>\u00a0Next Lesson \u27a1<\/a><\/div>\n

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\u2b05 Previous Lesson\u00a0Workshop Index\u00a0Next Lesson \u27a1 Sound Objective What defines poetry even more than its form is how it sounds. The way a poem marches from line to line or how onomatopoeia can bring a subject to life is what makes a piece poetic. In this section, we will look at the elements of sound […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-80","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457,"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions\/457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanboard.org\/Subjects\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}