Sound devices and poetry

Alliteration

Repetition of beginning consonant sounds

Example: Peter Piper Picked a Pepper

Assonance

Repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words

Example: The sLOw rOAd hOme

Consonance

Repetition of consonant sounds, often within or at the ends of words

Example: The blaCK duCK quaCKed

Onomatopoeia

Words that imitate sounds

Example: Boom! Buzz! Splash!

Repetition

Reusing a word or phrase for emphasis

Example: Run! run! run!

Rhyme

Words sharing the same or similar ending sounds

Example, Cat hat mat bat fat

End rhyme

Rhyming words appear at the ends of lines

Example: The stars shine bright / throughout the night

Meter

An organized pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables

Example: “The SUN will RISE and WARM the SLEEP-ing EARTH

Epistrophe

Repeating words at the ends of successive phrases

Example: I want peace, you want peace, We deserve peace

Couplet

Two successive lines of poetry, often rhyming

Example: The sky is bright / With stars tonight

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem, like a paragraph

Example: A poem divided into groups of 4 lines

Free verse

Poetry without regular rhyme scheme or fixed meter

Example: Leaves fall / across the empty street