Literary device
Alliteration
Repetition of the same initial consonant sound across nearby words. One of the oldest sound devices in English and a central organising principle of Old English alliterative verse.
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Literary devices
How metaphor, enjambment, radif, and other devices work — guidelines a poet considers, then bends with care.
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Literary device
Assonance
Repetition of the same vowel sound in nearby stressed syllables. The vowel-music counterpart to alliteration — slower, more sustained, often the central organising sound of lyric verse.
Literary device
Consonance
Repetition of the same consonant sound in nearby words, anywhere in the word — not only at the start. The consonantal counterpart to assonance and a quieter cousin of alliteration.
Literary device
Onomatopoeia
Words that imitate the sound they name — *buzz*, *hiss*, *crackle*, *moan*. The most direct of the sound devices, and one of the oldest sources of acoustic meaning in poetry.
Literary device
Refrain
A line, phrase, or short passage repeated at fixed intervals in a poem — most often at the end of a stanza. One of the oldest organising devices in lyric, song, and ballad.
Literary device
Rhyme (perfect, slant, internal)
The repetition of matching sounds at the ends of words — most often at line ends, sometimes inside the line. The most-recognised sound device in English-language verse, and one of the most varied.
Literary device
Sibilance
A specialised form of consonance in which the repeated sounds are the hissing fricatives — /s/, /z/, /sh/, /zh/. The quietest of the sound devices and one of the most affectively loaded.