Chapter 17- Prosody: Sound,
Rhythm, and Rhyme in Poetry
World Literature
LAP 4: Poetry
Day 5
Prosody
• Prosody is the general word describing the
study of poetic sounds and rhythms.
• Common alternative words are metrics,
versification, mechanics of verse, and
music of poetry.
• Most readers, when reading poetry aloud,
interpret the lines and develop an appropriate
speed and expressiveness of delivery- a proper
rhythm.
Important Definitions for Studying
Prosody
• Vowel sounds create the flow of poetic
speech.
• The continuous stream of speech, whether
conversation, oratory, or poetry is provided
mainly by vowel sounds.
• When we study the effects of various segments
in relationship to poetic rhythm, we deal with
sound; usually our concern is with prosodic
devices- alliteration, assonance,
consonance and rhyme.
Individually Meaningful Sounds
• Alliteration- the occurrence of the same letter or sound at
the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
• Assonance- in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel
in non-rhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other
for the echo to be discernible (e.g.,penitence, reticence ).
• Consonance- the recurrence of similar sounds, especially
consonants, in close proximity (chiefly as used in prosody).
• Rhyme-correspondence of sound between words or the
endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends
of lines of poetry.
• Examples of Alliteration
▫ The wicked witch of the west
▫ Larry, like Laura, likes leaving late.
▫ Freezing frost in February
▫ Johnny jumped and jiggled.
• Examples of Consonance
▫ He struck some good luck.
▫ Think tank
▫ Touch the peach on the beach.
▫ The big frog was on a log.
• Examples of Assonance
▫ There was a rock in a box that was locked.
▫ The cat came back to attack the man.
▫ A white owl was flying high in the night.
• In each case, whether we’re talking about alliteration, consonance or
assonance, it’s important to focus on the sound, rather than the letter, that
is used. All three of these literary devices are used to catch a person’s
attention and please the ear by creating a musical effect through language.
Poetic Rhythm
• Rhythm in speech is a combination of vocal
speeds, rises and falls, starts and stops, vigor
and slackness, and relaxation and tension.
• In ordinary speech and in prose, rhythm- as
important as it is-is not as important as the flow
of ideas.
“Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m75-812sj4
Rhyming in songs and poetry
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRX8sXdC
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Review Poems
• I will read these poems out loud. As I read these
poems, pay attention to the literary devices that
are used (including alliteration, assonance and
consonance).
• We will analyze the poems as a class.
• “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” p. 787
• “My Papa’s Waltz” p. 838
• “Bells” p. 870
Continue your poem
• With your poetry circle, add three more lines to
your poem using alliteration, assonance, and
consonance and adding rhyme.