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Assonance
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<h2 id="examples">Examples</h2> <p>English poetry is rich with examples of assonance and/or consonance: </p> <p>That solit<i>u</i>de which s<i>ui</i>ts abstr<i>u</i>ser m<i>u</i>sings</p>— <a href="/facts/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge/80CDXJoq">Samuel Taylor Coleridge</a>, "<a href="/facts/Frost_at_Midnight/Er5MEvN0">Frost at Midnight</a>" <p>on a pr<i>ou</i>d r<i>ou</i>nd cl<i>ou</i>d in wh<i>i</i>te h<i>i</i>gh n<i>i</i>ght</p>— <a href="/facts/E._E._Cummings/KsqDItBo">E. E. Cummings</a>, if a cheerfulest Elephantangelchild should sit <p>His t<i>e</i>nder h<i>ei</i>r might b<i>ea</i>r his m<i>e</i>mory</p>— <a href="/facts/William_Shakespeare/ohI96JTv">William Shakespeare</a>, "<a href="/facts/Sonnet_1/nVGJQNmX">Sonnet 1</a>" <p>It also occurs in prose: </p> <p>Soft language <i>i</i>ssued from their sp<i>i</i>tless l<i>i</i>ps as they sw<i>i</i>shed in low circles round and round the field, winding h<i>i</i>ther and th<i>i</i>ther through the weeds.</p>— <a href="/facts/James_Joyce/Ty6qh67s">James Joyce</a>, <i><a href="/facts/Portrait_of_the_Artist_as_a_Young_Man/457IpAWy">Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man</a></i> <p>The W<i>i</i>llow-Wr<i>e</i>n was tw<i>i</i>tter<i>i</i>ng h<i>i</i>s th<i>i</i>n l<i>i</i>ttle song, h<i>i</i>dd<i>e</i>n h<i>i</i>ms<i>el</i>f <i>i</i>n the dark s<i>el</i>v<i>e</i>dge of the r<i>i</i>ver bank.</p>— <a href="/facts/Kenneth_Grahame/JePN8bDy">Kenneth Grahame</a>, <i><a href="/facts/The_Wind_in_the_Willows/qyM5lHhS">The Wind in the Willows</a></i> <p><a href="/facts/Hip_hop/7HjAPIEh">Hip hop</a> relies on assonance: </p> <p>Some v<i>o</i>dka that'll jumpst<i>ar</i>t my h<i>ear</i>t quicker than a sh<i>o</i>ck when I get sh<i>o</i>cked at the h<i>o</i>spital by the d<i>o</i>ctor when I'm n<i>o</i>t co<i>o</i>perating when I'm r<i>o</i>cking the table when he's <i>o</i>perating...</p>— <a href="/facts/Eminem/zXSQb1nS">Eminem</a>, "<a href="/facts/Without_Me_(Eminem_song)/mxDpoECr">Without Me</a>" <p>Dead <i>i</i>n the m<i>i</i>ddle of l<i>i</i>ttle <i>I</i>taly l<i>i</i>ttle d<i>i</i>d we know that we r<i>i</i>ddled some m<i>i</i>ddleman who d<i>i</i>dn't do d<i>i</i>ddly.</p>— <a href="/facts/Big_Pun/QJN3EN5w">Big Pun</a>, "Twinz" <p>It is also heard in other forms of popular music: </p> <p>I must conf<i>e</i>ss that in my qu<i>e</i>st I f<i>e</i>lt depr<i>e</i>ssed and r<i>e</i>stless</p>— <a href="/facts/Thin_Lizzy/Fra7x0cK">Thin Lizzy</a>, "With Love" <p>I never seen so many Dom<i>i</i>n<i>i</i>c<i>a</i>n w<i>o</i>m<i>e</i>n w<i>i</i>th c<i>i</i>nnam<i>o</i>n tans</p>— <a href="/facts/Will_Smith/4sNGLYba">Will Smith</a>, "Miami" <p>Dot m<i>y</i> <i>I</i>'s with <i>eye</i>brow pencils, close m<i>y</i> <i>eye</i>lids, hide m<i>y</i> <i>eye</i>s. I'll be <i>i</i>dle in my <i>i</i>deals. Think of nothing else but <i>I</i></p>— <a href="/facts/Keaton_Henson/mSIJPGQl">Keaton Henson</a>, "Small Hands" <p>Assonance is common in <a href="/facts/Proverb/g5vFjF76">proverbs</a>: </p> <p>The squ<i>ea</i>ky wh<i>ee</i>l gets the gr<i>ea</i>se.</p> <p>The e<i>ar</i>ly b<i>ir</i>d catches the w<i>or</i>m.</p> <p>Total assonance is found in a number of <a href="/facts/Pashto/hc2ndCqx">Pashto</a> proverbs from <a href="/facts/Afghan_proverbs/yfdI060L">Afghanistan</a>: </p> <ul><li><i>La zra na bal zra ta laar shta.</i> "From one heart to another there is a way."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li><i>Kha ghar lwar day pa sar laar lary.</i> "Even if a mountain is very high, there is a path to the top."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li></ul> <p>This poetic device can be found in the first line of <a href="/facts/Homer/Xw8Ur53U">Homer</a>'s <a href="/facts/Iliad/HceJKUGB">Iliad</a>: <i>Mênin áeide, theá, Pēlēïádeō Akhilêos</i> (Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος). Another example is <i>Dies irae</i> (probably by <a href="/facts/Thomas_of_Celano/TsaLgnga">Thomas of Celano</a>): </p> <i>Dies iræ, dies illa</i> <i>Solvet sæclum in favilla,</i> <i>Teste David cum Sibylla.</i> <p>In <a href="/facts/Dante/rXX7fIg0">Dante</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Divine_Comedy/yAQgsN3V">Divine Comedy</a></i> there are some stanzas with such repetition. </p> <i>così l’animo mio, ch’ancor fuggiva,</i> <i>si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo</i> <i>che non lasciò già mai persona viva.</i> <p>In the following strophe from <a href="/facts/Hart_Crane/GfcR6yCQ">Hart Crane</a>'s "To Brooklyn Bridge" there is the vowel [i] in many stressed syllables. </p> <i>How many dawns, chill from his rippling rest</i> <i>The seagull’s wings shall dip and pivot him,</i> <i>Shedding white rings of tumult, building high</i> <i>Over the chained bay waters Liberty—</i><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> <p>All <a href="/facts/Rhyme/CV7TzhCI">rhymes</a> in a strophe can be linked by vowel harmony into one assonance. Such stanzas can be found in Italian or Portuguese poetry, in works by <a href="/facts/Giambattista_Marino/bAqAd4I8">Giambattista Marino</a> and <a href="/facts/Lu%C3%ADs_Vaz_de_Cam%C3%B5es/WY5RwwuG">Luís Vaz de Camões</a>: </p> <i>Giunto a quel passo il giovinetto Alcide,</i> <i>che fa capo al camin di nostra vita,</i> <i>trovò dubbio e sospeso infra due guide</i> <i>una via, che’ due strade era partita.</i> <i>Facile e piana la sinistra ei vide,</i> <i>di delizie e piacer tutta fiorita;</i> <i>l’altra vestìa l’ispide balze alpine</i> <i>di duri sassi e di pungenti spine.</i><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> <p>This is <a href="/facts/Ottava_rima/psWt8wWQ">ottava rima</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> (abababcc),<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> a very popular form in the Renaissance that was first used in epic poems. </p> <i>As armas e os barões assinalados,</i> <i>Que da ocidental praia Lusitana,</i> <i>Por mares nunca de antes navegados,</i> <i>Passaram ainda além da Taprobana,</i> <i>Em perigos e guerras esforçados,</i> <i>Mais do que prometia a força humana,</i> <i>E entre gente remota edificaram</i> <i>Novo Reino, que tanto sublimaram;</i><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> <p>There are many examples of vowel harmony in French,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> Czech,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> and Polish<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> poetry. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Alliteration/N4ESE135">Alliteration</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Literary_consonance/an4x4D7l">Literary consonance</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://www.americanrhetoric.com/figures/assonance.htm">Assonance</a>, American Rhetoric: Rhetorical Figures in Sound</li> <li><a href="http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/assonance.html">Assonance</a>, Modern & Contemporary American Poetry, University of Pennsylvania</li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090304005238/http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/virtualit/poetry/assonance_def.html">Definition of Assonance</a>, Elements of Poetry, VirtuaLit</li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Edmund_Gosse/HYHGYuRY">Gosse, Edmund William</a> (1911). <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Assonance">"Assonance" </a>. <i><a href="/facts/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition/mPElbCRY">Encyclopædia Britannica</a></i>. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). pp. 786–787.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Roman_Jakobson/qgzFg9eE">Roman Jakobson</a>, Jennifer Rowsell, <a href="/facts/Kate_Pahl/Q8GuyN1g">Kate Pahl</a> (ed.), <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=76ZhCQAAQBAJ&dq=mukarovsky+vowel+repetitions&pg=PA427">The Routledge Handbook of Literacy Studies, p. 427.</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Jan_Muka%C5%99ovsk%C3%BD/3rDxrBpJ">Jan Mukařovský</a>, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=k_9ORvXS-jsC&dq=mukarovsky+vowel+repetitions&pg=PA27">John Odmark, Language, Literature and Meaning, p. 27.</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (1996). <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Merriam-Webster consonance. <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consonance" target="_blank">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consonance</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Assonance at Enciclopaedia Britannica <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/assonance" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/art/assonance</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Khurana, Ajeet "Assonance and Consonance" Outstanding Writing". Archived from the original on 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2011-03-18. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110316082852/http://outstandingwriting.com/assonance-and-consonance/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20110316082852/http://outstandingwriting.com/assonance-and-consonance/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>p. 16, Zellem, Edward. 2014. Mataluna: 151 Pashto Proverbs. Cultures Direct. <a href="/wiki/Edward_Zellem" target="_blank">/wiki/Edward_Zellem</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>p. 66, Zellem, Edward. 2014. Mataluna: 151 Pashto Proverbs. Cultures Direct. <a href="/wiki/Edward_Zellem" target="_blank">/wiki/Edward_Zellem</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Hart Crane, from "The Bridge: To Brooklyn Bridge" at Poetry Foundation. <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43262" target="_blank">https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43262</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Giambattista Marino, Adone, Canto II, stanza 1 (in Italian). <a href="https://it.wikisource.org/wiki/Adone/Canto_II" target="_blank">https://it.wikisource.org/wiki/Adone/Canto_II</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Ottava rima at Encyclopædia Britannica. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/ottava-rima" target="_blank">https://www.britannica.com/art/ottava-rima</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Ottava rima at Poetry Foundation. <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/glossary-terms/detail/ottava-rima" target="_blank">https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/glossary-terms/detail/ottava-rima</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Luís Vaz de Camões, Os Lusíadas, Canto Primeiro, stanza 1 (in Portuguese). <a href="https://pt.wikisource.org/wiki/Os_Lus%C3%ADadas/I" target="_blank">https://pt.wikisource.org/wiki/Os_Lus%C3%ADadas/I</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Roy Lewis, On Reading French Verse. A Study of Poetic Form, Oxford 1982, pp. 70–99, 149–190. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Wiktor J. Darasz, Harmonia wokaliczna w poezji Vladimíra Holana, Almanach Czeski, 2006 (in Polish). <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Wiktor Jarosław Darasz, Mały przewodnik po wierszu polskim, Kraków 2003, pp. 179–185 (in Polish). <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>