Sound Devices

in Poetry
1.Rhyme Scheme:
Poets organize rhyming
words in a variety of patterns
called rhyme schemes.
1.Rhyme Scheme:
End rhyme is the rhyming of words
at the ends of lines of poetry.

Internal rhyme is the rhyming of

words within one line of poetry.
Here are some examples of end rhymes:

“Trees” by Joyce Kilmer (aabb)

I think that I shall never see (a)

A poem lovely as a tree. (a)
A tree that may in summer wear (b)
A nest of robins in her hair. (b)
 “The Highwayman”
by Alfred Noyes (aabcb)
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor.
And the highwayman came riding- Riding – riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
2. Repetition:
is the recurring use of a sound, a
word, a phrase, or a line. Repetition
can be used to appeal to our
emotions, create mood, and to
emphasize important ideas.
Notice how Edgar Allan Poe uses repetition in “Annabel
Lee” to create emotional effects:

And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
In “Casey at the Bat” by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, word
repetition is used effectively to create a mood:

Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children
shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville: Mighty Casey has struck out.
 3.
Alliteration:
is the repetition of beginning consonant
sounds. The tongue twister, “Peter Piper
picked a peck of pickled peppers,” overuses
alliteration. Alliteration is easy to use, but it is
a challenge to use it well when writing poetry.
a. Quincy's quilters quit quilting quickly
b. Tim took tons of tools to make toys for the
tots.
c. She sells seashells by the sea-shore
d. Greedy goats gobbled up gooseberries,
getting good at grabbing the goodies
 4. Assonance:
is the repetition of vowel sounds.
It happens when two or more words
place together and the same vowel
sounds are repeated, but each word
starts with different consonant sound.
Notice how many “O” sounds occur in
this poem by Nina Bogan

How strange it is To hover over words,

like the smoke From the loggers’ fires,
over the valley
a. We light fire on the mountain.
b. I feel depressed and restle
c. Go and mow the lawn.
d. Johnny went here and there and
everywhere
e. The engineer held the steering to
steer the vehicle
 5.
Consonance:
is the repetition of consonant
sounds anywhere within words, not
just at the beginning.
Count the “S” sounds as they appear in this verse of
“The Walrus and the Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll:

The moon was shining sulkily,

Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done—
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!”
The following lines from a song also show how
consonant sounds have been used repeatedly

“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.
Figures of
Speech
1. Simile:
is a comparison that claims the
things being compared are similar.
Figures of
It draws resemblance with the
Speech
help of the words “like” or “as”.
Therefore, it is a direct comparison.
a. Our soldiers are as brave as lions.
b. Her cheeks are red like a rose.
c. He is as funny as a monkey.
d. The water well was as dry as a bone.
e. He is cunning as a fox.
f. When the teacher entered the class,
the students were fighting like cats
and dogs.
 2. Metaphor:
a figure of speech that makes an implicit,
implied, or hidden comparison between two
things that are unrelated, but share some
common characteristics.
 In other words, a resemblance of two
contradictory or different objects is made
based on a single or some common
characteristics.
a. My brother was boiling mad. (This implies
he was too angry).
b. The skies of his future began to darken.
(Darkness is a threat; this implies that the
coming times are going to be hard for
him).
c. Her voice is music to his ears. (This implies
that her voice makes him feel happy).
 3.
Onomatopoi
is the use of words that create the
sounds ea:
they describe. Words like
buzz, hum, clank, and crash represent
a sound.
 Listen for the sound of horse hoofs
repeated in “The Highwayman” by
Alfred Noyes:

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it?

The horse hoofs ringing clear;
Tlot-tlot, tlot-tlot, in the distance?
Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Robert Browning, a poet who
popularized the dramatic monologue,
wrote an onomatopoeia poem about
the pied piper
There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling,
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering,
And, like fowls in a farm-yard when barley
is scattering..