Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance

Poets often use alliteration, assonance, and consonance to help with the fluidity of a poem. Thus, making it more pleasing to the ear and easier to speak aloud. For beginners, however, the problem is identifying the differences between the three devices.

Alliteration

Alliteration refers to the repetition of consonants in words of close proximity. It generally refers to the sounds at the beginning of the adjacent words. For example:


                                               The black bat sat on the back porch.


In this sentence, the words "black" and "bat," which are right next to each other, both begin with the letter "b." Also, though not right next to the "black" and "bat," three words down is the word "back," beginning with the letter "b" as well.

Therefore, you could say that this sentence contains alliteration with the letter "b."


Assonance

Assonance refers to the repetition of vowel sounds within a series of words. For example:


                                             The black bat sat on the back porch.


In this sentence, notice that the vowel sound for the letter "a" is consistent in the words "black," "bat," "sat," and "back."


Consonance

Consonance refers to the repetition of consonant sounds at the end of and within words of close proximity. For example:


                                            The black bat sat on the back porch


Notice that, in this sentence, we have two forms of consonance. The words "black" and "back" both end it "-ck" while "bat" and "sat" end in "-t."

Further examples:

Let's look at a few lines of poetry from "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe.

It was many and many a year ago,
     In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
     By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
     Than to love and be loved by me.

Notice that the letter "m" is repeated at the beginning of several words. (Alliteration).

Notice that the short vowel sound of "i" is repeated within several words. (Assonance).

Notice that the "m" sound is found at or towards the end of "kingdom," "whom," and "name." (Consonance).

For more examples and further explanation, go to:

 http://ezinearticles.com/?Alliteration,-Assonance-and-Consonance&id=675686