I put a lot of work into Rhymes and Slant Rhymes and Assonance! Jill

[jill stockinger]

I KNOW all the rhymes and slant rhymes and assonance in a poem are not usually obvious to most readers.

Nedra and Bob and Bethanie, this does NOT include you! 

AND TO ANY NOT INTERESTED, PLEASE JUST DELETE THIS IMMEDIATELY! And I apologize for the intrusion!

I often put a lot of work into choosing words that do rhyme or are slant rhymes or utilize assonance

to make a poem "pleasing to the ear."

It is not necessary for a listener or reader to notice these.

The writer hopes that a sonorous musical quality is imparted to the listeners,

even if they do not notice what causes that effect.

Here, I show this work to you. 

The way to "see" all the "connecting words" is to take ONE COLOR and FIND THAT ONE COLOR all the way through the poem. 

Then pick the NEXT color and Follow it all the way through the poem.

And continue on, handling just ONE COLOR each time, all the way through the poem.

 The words in the same colors indicate they are rhymes or slant rhymes with each other, or have assonance.

The underlining used for one "sound"was meant to show that one particular color more easily, as it is such a light color, not easy for the eye to pick out, I think.

It has no other significance.

I particularly like the "long ee sound" as shown in bright pink and the "oo" sound as shown in Bold olive green.

And I was particularly happy with the rhyme and slant rhyme with assonance employed in the FIRST LINE and LAST LINE, subtly "pulling the poem together" in a way:

slink, stink, fragrant, mint. 

Slime Mold by Jill Stockinger

 

The oozy slink, the noxious stink

of slime! Even hearing your name

creates a frisson of revulsion until

I see the camera’s time-lapsed

captures of your tight embrace

in your all-consuming love of earth.

You proceed at too infinitesimal

a scale for my coarse sight to register,

but those images, magnified five times

over, reveal your so-slow movements, 

one mere millimeter per hour, 

that cause the soft relaxation

and the letting go of strong, thick wood

into the becoming of fertilizing soil

and potent nutrients. Your sensitive,

questing filaments caress, engulf

and gently digest tree bark and 

circles of cambium; next, you patiently

eat your way through sapwood to reach

the rich, dense heartwood, all food

you use to produce a symphony

of decomposition from which rises

new saplings, moss and flowers.

Without your persistence,

the forest floor would be choked

by fallen limbs stacked high,

and under that increasing darkness,

no new trees would grow. How strange

that beings of your stature underlie

the growth of trees and the purple iris,

sagebrush, white trillium, red berries,

ivy ropes, the fragrant coyote mint.

And here it is, without all that annoying color!:

Slime Mold by Jill Stockinger

 

The oozy slink, the noxious stink

of slime! Even hearing your name

creates a frisson of revulsion until

I see the camera’s time-lapsed

captures of your tight embrace

in your all-consuming love of earth.

You proceed at too infinitesimal

a scale for my coarse sight to register,

but those images, magnified five times

over, reveal your so-slow movements, 

one mere millimeter per hour, 

that cause the soft relaxation

and the letting go of strong, thick wood

into the becoming of fertilizing soil

and potent nutrients. Your sensitive,

questing filaments caress, engulf

and gently digest tree bark and 

circles of cambium; next, you patiently

eat your way through sapwood to reach

the rich, dense heartwood, all food

you use to produce a symphony

of decomposition from which rises

new saplings, moss and flowers.

Without your persistence,

the forest floor would be choked

by fallen limbs stacked high,

and under that increasing darkness,

no new trees would grow. How strange

that beings of your stature underlie

the growth of trees and the purple iris,

sagebrush, white trillium, red berries,

ivy ropes, the fragrant coyote mint.

 

What is a slant rhyme and assonance?

From masterclass.com:

What Is Slant Rhyme? Understanding the Definitions of Slant Rhyme and Why Slant Rhymes Are Useful in Writing, With Examples

Written on MasterClass.com:

Poetry allows writers to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas with flowing rhythm and style. But not every verse needs to follow a perfect rhyme structure; it can be just as effective when words rhyme imperfectly, sharing consonants or vowel sounds.

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What Is a Slant Rhyme?

A slant rhyme is a type of rhyme with words that have similar, but not identical sounds. Most slant rhymes are formed by words with identical consonants and different vowels, or vice versa. “Worm” and “swarm” are examples of slant rhymes. A slant rhyme is also called a half rhyme, near rhyme, sprung rhyme, off rhyme, lazy rhyme, oblique rhyme, or approximate rhyme.

Slant rhyme is also called imperfect rhyme in contrast to perfect rhyme. Perfect rhymes are formed by words with identical stressed vowel sounds. “Sky” and “high” are examples of perfect rhymes. A perfect rhyme is also called an exact rhyme, full rhyme, or true rhyme.

Broad Definition of a Slant Rhyme

The definition of slant rhyme has broadened over time to focus on the entire last syllable of the word, not just the last consonant of the word. According to broader definitions of slant rhyme, last syllables can have either similar consonant sounds (called consonance) or similar vowel sounds (called assonance).

Slant Rhymes and Assonance and Consonance

Assonance is repeating the sound of a vowel in two words that aren't perfect rhymes. 

Some slant rhymes have final syllables that share assonance, such as “hat” and “bad” or “crate” and “braid.”

Consonance is repeating the sound of a consonant in two words that aren't perfect rhymes. Some slant rhymes have final syllables that share consonance, such as “cut” and “mat.” Additionally, a pararhyme is a type of rhyme with words that have the same beginning and ending consonant sounds. “Sold” and “spelled” are examples of pararhymes.

Note that slant rhymes are not the same as assonance or consonance. Slant rhymes may use assonance or consonance at the end of a word, but on their own, the two literary devices can exist anywhere in a word.

3 Reasons Writers Use Slant Rhymes

The use of slant rhyme benefits writers in many ways, including:

1. 1. Slant rhymes make poetry and prose sound more cohesive. Repeating a vowel or consonant sound creates a pattern that’s pleasing to the reader’s ear. They may not notice it, because slant rhymes are not as distinct as perfect rhymes, but they make for a more unified and enjoyable reading experience whether the reader realizes it or not.
2. 2. Slant rhymes are unexpected. When a poet ends a stanza with a perfect rhyme, they set the expectation that the following stanza will also end with a perfect rhyme. Using a slant rhyme instead catches the reader by surprise and subverts their expectations, delivering a satisfyingly unexpected twist.
3. 3. Slant rhymes allow for more creative word choice. When writing in perfect rhymes, poets are limited in which words they can use; the guidelines are more stringent, and the words must match perfectly. But when writing in slant rhymes, there are many more words to choose from, which allows for more creative expression and more exact word choice. Further, some words do not have a perfect rhyme in the English language, so slant rhymes are a solution that still enables you to play with syllables and add variety to your rhyme schemes.

   
   

   
   

   Poetry allows writers to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas with flowing rhythm and style. But not every verse needs to follow a perfect rhyme structure; it can be just as effective when words rhyme imperfectly, sharing consonants or vowel sounds.