The Language of Poetry - LanguageArts-NHS

literary analysis: sound devices
In the poems that follow, the poets use rhyme and other sound
devices to convey rhythm and meaning:
• Assonance—the repetition of vowel sounds in words that
don’t rhyme
We could find the end of a road, meet
the sky on out Seventeenth. . . .
• Consonance—the repetition of consonant sounds within and
at the ends of words
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
• Repetition—a sound, word, phrase, or line that is repeated
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
Listen for the various sound devices that establish each poem’s
rhythmic flow, and notice how they help to evoke specific
memories. Record examples in a chart.
“Piano”
“Fifteen”
“Tonight I Can
Write . . .”
reading skill: understand line breaks
End-stopped lines of poetry end at a normal speech pause, as in
these lines from “Tonight I Can Write . . .”:
The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.
This emphasizes the line endings and makes a reader view each
line as a complete unit of meaning.
Enjambed lines run on without a natural pause, as in “Fifteen”:
South of the bridge on Seventeenth
I found back of the willows one summer
day a motorcycle with engine running
Enjambment can create a tension and momentum until the
thought is complete. As you read each poem, think about how
line breaks affect rhythm and meaning.
Review: Make Inferences
Assonance Consonance Repetition
D. H. Lawrence: Writer
of Experience
Although impoverished
during his childhood,
D. H. Lawrence found
great pleasure in
learning and culture,
a love of which
was instilled by his
mother. Lawrence’s
confessional, earnest
D. H. Lawrence
1885–1930
style is illustrated in
the poem “Piano.” He
wrote it in memory of his mother.
William Stafford:
Remembering the Past
William Stafford
remembered, growing
up in Kansas, being
“surrounded by songs
and stories and poems,
and lyrical splurges of
excited talk. . . .” These
memories eventually
became the stuff of
his poetry. “Fifteen” is
part of a collection of
poems that recall his past.
Pablo Neruda: Boy
Wonder Pablo Neruda
was drawn to poetry
at an early age, even
though his workingclass
family scoffed at
his literary ambitions.
By age 20 he had
achieved literary
stardom with the
publication of Twenty
Love Poems and a Song
of Despair. The book
William Stafford
1914–1993
Pablo Neruda
1904–1973
chronicles a passionate love story, from the
couple’s first meeting to eventual breakup.
“Tonight I Can Write” is the 20th poem.
more about the author
For more on these poets, visit the
Literature Center at ClassZone.com.
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