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Basic Tools of the Poet
| This section will attempt to define and explore some of the basic language techniques used by the poet in his journey to meaning. These basic word plays, in combination with other decisions relating to rhyme, no rhyme, meter, line endings, etc., allow the poet to help the reader/listener to find the desired "meaning" of the poem. |
| Technique | Explanation |
| Alliteration | This refers, generally, to the repetition of consonant sounds. It refers specifically to the repetition of INITIAL consonant sounds. Alliteration creates a very prominent sound pattern, one which must be used carefully, lest it sound absurd. All "tongue twisters" are examples of alliteration, in most cases, an absurd one. The variants on alliteration will be defined below. |
| Alliteration, or Initial Rhyme | The repetition of initial consonant sounds. --rattling rain (r) |
| Consonance, or Final Alliteration | Consonants at the end of words. -- greek book (k) |
| Parallel, or Cross Alliteration | Interweaving of consonants between two or more words. -- Good Morning/ Great Mail (g, m) |
| Internal Alliteration | Repeated consonants in the middle of words. -- Simple Camper (mp) |
| Thesis, or Submerged Alliteration | The repetition of consonants in the unstressed syllables of words. -- Mailing Buttons (n) |
| Suspended Alliteration | A reversed consonant vowel combination between two or more words -- Maudlin Sawmill (m, aw) |
| Note should be made of the difference between alliteration and rhyme. Alliteration, with few exceptions, repeats one isolated consonant sound, while rhyme generally repeats two or more sounds together, consonant/vowel combinations being prediminant. |
| Assonance | The repetition of vowel sounds. Assonance is similar in nature to
alliteration, and the same cautions in its use apply. "We speak" demonstrates an
assonated "e" Assonance is also used to describe a particular form of
approximate or slant rhyme, in which the vowel remains the same while the surrounding
consonants change. --"RIPEN on the VINE" (i) |
| Consonance | See alliteration; also, an approximate or slant rhyme which repats
consonant sounds while changing the vowels. --"black sock" (ck) |
| End-stopped or Enjambed line endings | All lines of poetry will end in one of these two ways. An
end-stopped line is one with a distinct halt or strong pause at the end of the line. this
ending can be indicated either by punctuation, or by the thought being complete without
having to be continued into the next line. End-stopping has the effect of slowing the
movement of the poem by these rhythmically imposed hesitations. The following two lines,
from my poem "Alienation", are both end stopped lines. "All life is the voice of one who speaks from distant childhood." Enjambment is the ending of
any line whose meaning and flow continues in the succeeding line. Enjambment speeds the
flow of the reader, driving the need to make sense on to the next line. The following two
lines, again from "Alienation", illustrate the enjambed line: These two methods, usedwisely, give the poet great control over the flow and pacing of the poem and thus over how the reader/listener makes the poem "mean". |
| Feminine Ending | A line that ends with an "extra" unstressed syllable. this syllable is considered to be appended to the line's meter, not as part of the final foot. |
| Masculine Ending | Any line that ends with a stressed syllable. |