is the effect created when words with the same
initial consonants are used in close proximity.
“Stars blaze across the black
gap between horizons”
—Richard Kenney, from “Aubade”
“When Fidelito’s first tooth fell out, his mother threw it on the roof so that the rats would find it.”
—Oliver de la Paz, from “In the Year of the Rat”
“My parents learned to hear
the hollow crumple of gravel in the alley,
the lumbering hum of
the truck’s engine even
in their sleep, and could leap from their bed at pre-dawn”
—Lee Ann Roripaugh, from “DDT”
“Geese lift from the far hill in the last light”
—Judy Jordan, from “A Short Drop to Nothing”
“She climbs up the two flights of flagstone
stairs to 201-B, the spikes of her high heels
clicking like kitchen knives on a cutting board”
—Garrett Hongo, from “Yellow Light”
“a language all
liquid and its lack”
—Dorothy Field, from “Desert Speak”
“deer drift from the dark woods”
—Andrew Hudgins, from “Praying Drunk”
“many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps,
which I squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well
in the silent, startled, icy, black language”
—Galway Kinnell, from “Blackberry Eating”
“memory's microscopic doors flung wide”
—Sarah Lindsay, from “Aluminum Chlorohydrate”
“the taking of each stance or step
in his supposed advance”
—Lawrence Ferlinghetti, from “Constantly Risking Absurdity”
“where a spring rises, sometimes,”
—Dorothy Field, from “Desert Speak”
“pickup somehow strikes
its own dim spark—an arc—
starts”
—Richard Kenney, from “Aubade”
“tiny tender kinks
of capillaries”
—Sarah Lindsay, from “Aluminum Chlorohydrate”
“That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise:
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.”
—Langston Hughes, “Justice”
“Quick coffee,
jacket, watch-cap, keys.”
—Richard Kenney, from “Aubade”
“You have to use
a hollow point and hit them solidly.
A leg is not enough. The rat won't pause.
Yeep!Yeep! it screams, and scrabbles, three-legged, back
into the trash”
—Andrew Hudgins, from “Praying Drunk”
“the water’s warp and wrest”
—Judy Jordan, from “A Short Drop to Nothing”
“If it were May, hydrangeas and jacaranda
flowers in the streetside trees would be
blooming through the smog of late spring.”
—Garrett Hongo, from “Yellow Light”
is the effect created when words with the same vowel sound are used
in close proximity, but where the consonants in these words are different.
“memory's microscopic doors flung wide”
—Sarah Lindsay, from “Aluminum Chlorohydrate”
“If it were May, hydrangeas and jacaranda
flowers in the streetside trees would be
blooming through the smog of late spring.”
—Garrett Hongo, from “Yellow Light”
“Geese lift from the far hill in the last light”
—Judy Jordan, from “A Short Drop to Nothing”
“pickup somehow strikes
its own dim spark—an arc—
starts”
—Richard Kenney, from “Aubade”
“where a spring rises, sometimes,”
—Dorothy Field, from “Desert Speak”
“That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise:
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.”
—Langston Hughes, “Justice”
“My parents learned to hear
the hollow crumple of gravel in the alley,
the lumbering hum of
the truck’s engine even
in their sleep, and could leap from their bed at pre-dawn”
—Lee Ann Roripaugh, from “DDT”
“You have to use
a hollow point and hit them solidly.
A leg is not enough. The rat won't pause.
Yeep!Yeep! it screams, and scrabbles, three-legged, back
into the trash”
—Andrew Hudgins, from “Praying Drunk”
“tiny tender kinks
of capillaries”
—Sarah Lindsay, from “Aluminum Chlorohydrate”
“She climbs up the two flights of flagstone
stairs to 201-B, the spikes of her high heels
clicking like kitchen knives on a cutting board”
—Garrett Hongo, from “Yellow Light”
“When Fidelito’s first tooth fell out, his mother threw it on the roof so that the rats would find it.”
—Oliver de la Paz, from “In the Year of the Rat”
“Quick coffee,
jacket, watch-cap, keys.”
—Richard Kenney, from “Aubade”
“Stars blaze across the black
gap between horizons”
—Richard Kenney, from “Aubade”
is the effect created when words share the same stressed consonant sounds
but where the vowels differ.
“the hollow crumple of gravel in the alley”
—Lee Ann Roripaugh, from “DDT”
“many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps,
which I squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well
in the silent, startled, icy, black language”
—Galway Kinnell, from “Blackberry Eating”
is the use of words to imitate the sounds they describe.
“You have to use
a hollow point and hit them solidly.
A leg is not enough. The rat won't pause.
Yeep!Yeep! it screams, and scrabbles, three-legged, back
into the trash”
—Andrew Hudgins, from “Praying Drunk”
Resonance—n, m, ng, z (for lingering, droning effects)
Harshness—k, g, hard c (throaty sounds, for dissonance or cacophony)
Plosiveness—b, p, t, d, g, k (percussive sounds)
Breathiness—h (breathlessness)
f, th, s, sh, ch, (hissing and whispering)
Liquidity—l, r, w (for lapping musical lines)
\ a \ —as in mat, map, mad, gag, snap, patch, ask, fat, parrot
\ ā \ —as in day, fade, date, aorta, drape, cape
\ ä \ —as in bother, cot, father, car, ma, collar
\ b \ —as in baby, rib, bed, fable
\ ch \ —as in chin, catcher, arch, church, nature
\ d \ —as in had, did, added, dip, cuddle
\ e \ —as in bet, bed, peck, elf, bee, ten, very
\ ē \ —as in beat, nosebleed, even, easy, money, meet
\ ə \ —as in ago, item, edible, gallop, circus, about
\ ər \ —as in murder, perhaps
\ f \ —as in fife, phase, rough, cuff, after
\ g \ —as in go, big, gift, haggle
\ h \ —as in hat, ahead, he, hotel
\ hw \ —as in which, where, whale
\ i \ —as in tip, banish, active, is, mirror, hit
\ ī \ —as in site, side, buy, ripe, ice, high
\ j \ —as in joy, agile, badge, job, gem, edge, join, judge
\ k \ —as in kin, cook, ache, kick, cat, pique, bake, tackle
\ l \ —as in lily, pool, yellow, ball, let
\ m \ —as in murmur, dim, nymph, camel, met
\ n \ —as in no, own, flannel, ton, not
\ ŋ \ —as in ring, anger, drink, singer
\ o \ —as in pot, saw, all, gnaw, caught
\ oo \ —as in took, pull, wood
\ ō \ —as in go, know, beau, bone, toe, open, moan
\  \ —as in boot, crew, tool, ooze, move
\ ô \ —as in for, hoarse
\ oi \ —as in coin, destroy, oil, point, noise
\ ou \ —as in out, now, loud, crowd
\ p \ —as in pop, pepper, lip, apple, pen
\ r \ —as in roar, red, rarity, car, beard
\ s \ —as in sauce, source, less, sell, castle
\ sh \ —as in ship, dish, shy, mission, machine, special
\ t \ —as in tight, stopped, tie, attack, late, later, latter
\ th \ —as in thin, ether, truth, nothing
\ th \ —as in then, either, this, father, lathe
\ u \ —as in cut, up, color
\ ü \ —as in rule, youth, union
\ ûr \ —as in urge, term, firm, deter, heard, urn, fur, word, further, merger, bird
\ v \ —as in vivid, invite
\ w \ —as in we, away, will, always, swear
\ y \ —as in yard, young, yet, onion
\ z \ —as in zone, raise, zebra, dazzle, haze, xylem
\ zh \ —as in vision, azure, pleasure, garage, leisure
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