How to Write a Poem: Alliteration, Consonance, and Assonance
Once you know the basics of crafting a poem, you’re ready to start adding “poetic devices” like alliteration, consonance, and assonance. You’ve probably heard of alliteration before, but the other two might be new to you.
Let’s start with alliteration. Most people have heard this word before. It is simply beginning two or more words, usually in the same line, with the same letter or sound. This can include different letters that sound the same; eg: c can go with s or k depending on if it is a hard c or a soft c: “kitty cats” or “silly civets.”
This is a pretty easy device to include in your writing, though sometimes it can be a little overdone. Even the Bard is guilty of this (though he likely overdid it on purpose):
“With bloody blameful blade he bravely broached his bloody boiling breast.” -William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
J.R.R. Tolkien especially liked alliteration, often using it in a poetic form based on Old English Metre. Treebeard recites a verse in this style to Merry and Pippin, beginning with the lines, “Learn now the lore of living creatures! First name the four, the free peoples.” You can see how each line has the repeated l’s and f’s, creating alliteration.
Consonance and assonance are closely related to alliteration (and could even be called subsets of alliteration), though the repeated sounds no longer must be at the beginning of the words. Consonance is a repetition of consonant sounds, while assonance is a repetition of vowel sounds. (No, assonance has nothing to do with asses.)
Tongue twisters often use consonance and assonance. In “She sells seashells by the seashore,” we find three s sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of the words, and two e sounds at the middle and end. We also have the l’s near the end of “sells” and “seashells” for further consonance. “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” has alliteration with the p’s; consonance with c’s/k’s, p’s, and r’s; and assonance with various pronunciations of e’s and i’s.
Using these poetic devices in your own poetry can be a lot of fun. Most of the time, you want to avoid tongue twisters, but they can be fun too. Play with pretty, sexy sounds. Make something amazing. There are so many ways you can create cunning craft and awesome art.
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