SOUND

DEVICES
ALLITERATION
It is the repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Example:
• The peacock passes, a pompous one-bird
procession
• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper
ASSONANCE
It is the repetition of vowel sounds within the line.
The repeated vowel sound may be found at the
beginning, the middle or at the end of the words in
the line.

Example:
• The steamboat is a slow poke.
• The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.
CONSONANCE
It is the repetition of consonant sounds within the
line. The repeated vowel sound may be found at the
beginning, the middle or at the end of the words in
the line.

Example:
• Bring the singer, bring the nester
• I think I like the pink kite.
• The lint was sent with the tent.
REPETITION
It is the repetition of the same word within the line
or a line is repeated within the stanza

Example:
• But we loved with a love that was more than love
• A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
And no one can talk to a horse of course
RHYME
This is the similarity of sounds usually at the end of
the lines. It is a matter of pronunciation or sound,
not of spelling.

3 KINDS:
a. End rhyme
b. Alternate rhyme
c. Internal rhyme
END RHYME
This is the similarity of sounds at the end of two
consecutive lines.

Example:

Trees are the kindest things I know

They do no harm, they simply grow.
ALTERNATE RHYME
This is the similarity of sounds at the end of two
alternating lines.

Example:
The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings
The happy earth looks at the sky.
INTERNAL RHYME
This is the similarity of sounds at the middle and
the end of a line.

Example:
For the moon never beams without bringing
me dreams.
RHYTHM
Rhythm is when the arrangement of words creates
an audible pattern or beat when read out loud.

A good way to check to see if a passage of text is

using rhythm is to just hum the sounds that the
words make rather than clearly pronouncing them.
If you can hear a song or identify a form in the
sounds, then the text is rhythmic.
RHYTHM
• There once was a guy from Chicago
/ Who drank away all of his problems.

• I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny / but we

can have lots of good fun that is funny.
EXERCISES
IDENTIFYING SOUND
DEVICES
On you answer sheet, write the sound device
used in each of the following lines.
IDENTIFYING SOUND
DEVICES
1. And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds.
2. For the rare and radiant maiden whom the
angels named Lenore
3. And screams like a storm at sea
4. Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of
the hill
5. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered
weak and weary
 IDENTIFYING SOUND
DEVICES
6. One thing is certain and the rest is Lies
The Flower that once has blown forever dies
7. So, will go no more a-roving
8. The weary, wayworn wanderer bore
9. And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
10. Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot! The horse hoofs ringing clear