POETRY PRESCRIPTION: CONSONANCE

I’m back with my series of blog posts about the use of poetic devices in picture book writing. We use poetic devices to enhance our written work and create a deeper connection for our reader.
 
Today, we’ll look at the poetic device: Consonance

     

Consonance is a repetition of similar sounds, especially consonants in close proximity. (Often, the vowel sounds may differ.) Again, like the devices alliteration and assonance, this:

• heightens the relationship between words
• adds a musical quality
• captures a certain mood through sound

In my poetry collection, THE SUPERLATIVE A. LINCOLN: Poems About Our 16th President (Illustrated by Dave Szalay), I use this poetic device in a poem. “Best Wrestler”  shares the story of  Abe’s frontier wrestling days when he was a young man racking up a string of top finishes against opponents.
 
Act rough and tough. Then call their bluff.
Look fierce and frown. Then throw ‘em down.
 
Five repeated “f” sounds in just a few short lines lend a gruffness when read aloud. The mood is firmly established in this poem about a public wrestling match and squaring off against your opponent.

   

   

Fellow Rhyme Doctor Patricia Toht employs consonance effectively in her picture book,
DRESS LIKE A GIRL (illustrated by Lorian Tu-Dean). Notice how the crisp “t” sound  is played up in these lines: 
 
Toting some trinkets? Deep pockets hold all.
Grab your white lab coat. The doctor’s on call.
 
In this couplet, the “t” sound is used eight different  times to lend a pronounced, sharper sound to the stanza. This crisply calls attention to the subject matter -- the medical career aspirations and clothing worn by characters in the spread. 

   

   

Rhyme Doctor Michelle Schaub uses consonance  in the opening of her poem, “My Mother’s Button Box” in the poetry collection,  
FINDING TREASURE: A Collection of Collections (illustrated by Carmen Saldana).
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Check out the five repeating “l” sounds which add a lilting, musical quality to the opening line:
 
Shiny ones of shell and glass,
Pearly circles, swirls of brass.

   

Can you find a way to use consonance to create a desired mood in your work-in-progress?  
I challenge you to give it a try. See you next time.
Happy writing!
 
by Eileen Meyer, Rhyme Doctor