What Is Assonance?
- Melchior Antoine
- Nov 19, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Assonance is a literary device where vowel sounds in nearby words are repeated within a sentence or phrase. Unlike rhyme, which focuses on matching end sounds, assonance emphasizes the echo of similar internal vowel sounds. This creates subtle and sonorous sound effects.
Let's take a look at an example from Shakespeare, The Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 4:
Come away, come away, death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid.
Fly away, fly away, breath,
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
The repetition of the long vowel "a" sounds in "away," "laid," and "maid" attempts to portray the sadness of a heart-sick lover longing for death because the woman he loves has no interest in him. However, we know that both the song and singer are exaggerating and do not really wish for death. The use of assonance here is rather cliche.
Assonance works best when it properly reflects the intended meaning of the author in novel ways. Let's look at an example from Percy Shelley in his poem "Mont Blanc" (1817):
Thy caverns echoing to the Arve's commotion,
A loud, lone sound no other sound can tame;
Here, the poet attempts to make sound match with sense. The Arve is the name of a river in France and Switzerland, which runs through Mont Blanc, a famous mountain in Europe. By merely choosing the word "commotion," he achieves this effect. The repeated short vowel "o" sounds in that word represent the echoing of the river in the caves that he mentions.
He also combines consonance with assonance with words like "loud" and "sound" to achieve a similar effect. The repetition of both the "ou" vowel sound and the "d" sound in both words again reflects an echo, as does the literal repetition of the word "sound."
1. Why writers use assonance
Writers use assonance for a wide variety of reasons. However, the chief effect is musicality and sonorous effect. In short, it just sounds good. Nonetheless, assonance works best when it is made to echo the meaning that the writer is trying to get across. Let's look at some of the reasons writers use assonance.
1. To create mood and atmosphere. Assonance helps evoke emotions and set the tone of a piece. For instance, long vowel sounds can create a sense of melancholy, while short vowels may produce a lively or tense mood.
2. To add musicality and rhythm. By repeating vowel sounds, writers create a lyrical quality, making their work more pleasurable to read or hear. This can also aid in emphasizing key passages.
3. To draw attention to themes or ideas. Assonance highlights specific words or phrases, encouraging readers to focus on their significance and interpret their deeper meanings.
Examples of Assonance
1. Arnold, "Philomela" (1853):
Say, will it never heal?
And can this fragrant lawn
With its cool trees, and night,
And the sweet, tranquil Thames,
And moonshine, and the dew,
To thy rack'd heart and brain
Afford no balm?
Arnold uses a combination of assonance and consonance to mirror the emotion being expressed here. The short "e" vowel sounds in combination with the "l" sound in "will" and "heal" have a soothing effect. This is appropriate as the poet here is talking about bringing comfort to a being in deep pain.
The long "o" sounds in "cool," "moon," and "dew" also have a similar calming effect. Lastly, the harsh and difficult-to-pronounce consonance and assonance in "rack'd heart" reflects the pain and distress of the creature being referred to.
2. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915):
In the room, the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
”The recurring “o” sound mirrors the monotonous and cyclical nature of social interactions, and it also serves to highlight Prufrock’s sense of disconnect.
3. Eliot, "The Waste Land" (1922):
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing.
The elongated “e” sounds in “breeding” and “mixing” work in contrast against the abrupt and halting sound of “dead.” This properly evokes the tension between renewal and decay.
4. Brathwaite, "Colombus" (1992):
Birds circled flapping flag and mizzen
mast: birds harshly hawking, without fear.
Discovery he sailed for was so near.
. . .
I watched him pause.
Then he was splashing silence.
Crabs snapped their claws
and scattered as he walked towards our shore.
This poem was written from the perspective of a member of the Indigenous tribes encountered by Colombus when he "discovered" the Americas. The poem does a good job of invoking a sense of suspense. This is especially important in light of the massacre of Indigenous people that would follow this discovery.
Assonance is used to both paint vivid imagery and to evoke a sense of impending doom. "Flapping flag . . . mast" uses both assonance and alliteration to reproduce the sound of ship sails flapping noisily in the wind. The rhyme of "fear" with "near" also emphasizes the fear of the unknown that both the natives and Colombus would have experienced.
However, the last stanza included in the excerpt from the poem uses assonance most effectively to portray the mood of impending doom. Colombus is portrayed as a predator whose intention cannot be known. The Indigenous person is almost as a deer watching a strange creature whom he is not sure is predator or fellow friend.
"I watched him pause" highlights the uncertainty and suspense, which is emphasized by the slowed down sounds created by the assonance of "watch" and "pause." However, that uncertainty turns into absolute terror with "splasing silence" and crabs snapping their claws.
The short vowels sounds in "splashing," "crabs," and "scattered" all contribute to the sense of sudden movement and terror of something unknown and dangerous coming toward you.
4b. Bratwaite, Ogun (1986):
My uncle made chairs, tables, balanced doors on, dug out
coffins, smoothing the white wood out
with plane and quick sandpaper until
it shone like his short-sighted glasses.
The knuckles of his hands were sil-
vered knobs of nails hit, hurt and flat-
tened out with blast of heavy hammer. He was knock- knee’d, flat-
footed and his clip clop sandals slapped across the concrete
flooring of his little shop where canefield mulemen and a fleet
of Bedford lorry drivers dropped in to scratch themselves and talk.
In this second poem, Bratwaite also makes innovative use of assonance. He uses close vowel sounds to recreate the sounds and atmosphere of his uncle's carpenter workshop. For example, the long "o" sounds in the line "smoothing the white wood out " reproduce the effect of rough wood being polished.
We can actually hear the awkward walking of his uncle in the last four lines of the extract from the poem. This is achieved with the repetition of short "o" vowel sounds throughout these lines with words like "knock," "clop," "across," "flooring," "talk," and so on.
He doesn't use assonance by itself but combines with consonance, alliteration, and onomatopoeia for maximum effect. For example, "clip clop" is using both alliteration and onomatopoeia. The poem is rich in such devices. Take a look and see how they are used in association with close vowel sounds.
5. E. E. Cummings, [All in green went my love riding] (1923):
Fleeter be they than dappled dreams
the swift sweet deer
the red rare deer.
Four red roebuck at a white water
the cruel bugle sang before.
Horn at hip went my love riding
riding the echo down
into the silver dawn.
The poem above is by E. E. Cummings, and it makes effective and even sumptuous use of assonance. In particular, the poet uses the device in combination with rhyme. Assonance is used to emphasize the music and imagery that feature in the poetry.
The vowel sounds in "the swift sweet deer / the red rare deer" put the spotlight on the quickness of the deer and their color, respectively. The unusual rhyming scheme also ensures that the vowel sound at the beginning of each line rhymes with the vowel sound of the word in the last line. This, in a sense, has a double sonorous or musical effect in the poem.
There are also examples of sound echoing sense or meaning. A good example of this is with the line: "the cruel bugle sang." The ugly "u" sound in "cruel" and "bugle" suggests the immorality or meanness of hunting innocent deer for sport.
6. Milton, Paradise Lost (1667):
He call'd so loud, that all the hollow Deep
Of Hell resounded. Princes, Potentates
This is an excellent example of assonance from Milton. Here, the author seeks to replicate the sound that he is explaining. The sound of Lucifer giving a powerful speech in the depths of hell. The vowel sounds created in "call," "so," and "hollow" repeat each other.
It is more or less replicating the sound of an echo. If we imagine hell to be a large, deep, and empty space, then this is exactly as it would sound. The short "e" sound is repeated throughout the second line for a similar effect. The assonance doesn't work alone. It works in tandem with consonance, especially the "d" sounds in "called," "deep," and "resounded."
These "d" sounds reproduce the din of an echo. "Potentate" is a well-chosen word here. The repeated "t" sounds also tend to reproduce the effects of a din and echo.
How EminentEdit helps with your literary analysis
EminentEdit provides editing and commentary on literary analysis essays to ensure that you end up with the best possible version of your literary analysis essay.
Our editing, proofreading, and commentary services are based on our deep and extensive familiarity with the standards and conventions of literary analysis.
EminentEdit provides editing and proofreading services that are:
More importantly, we are adaptable to your specific needs. | Contact one of our representatives for help in editing your literary essay We know what you want to say. We help you say it better. |
EminentEdit’s proofreading and editing services for rhetorical analysis include:
Editing for tone of voice
Critiquing your thesis statements
Substantive editing to improve the quality of your writing on a sentence level
Proofreading to make sure your writing is grammatically correct with proper spelling and punctuation
Commentary to point out areas of improvement
Do you need help in editing and proofreading your rhetorical or literary essay? Contact us today: CONTACT AN EMINENTEDIT REPRESENTATIVE
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, November 19). What Is Assonance? EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/what-is-assonance |
留言