Assonance

CRAFT TERM

Nov 7

Written By The Poetry Lab

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants; sometimes called vowel rhyme.

via Poetry Foundation

Example

“Grief” by Kelly Roper uses assonance in the line:

Grief creeps in just like a thief and steals all joy away.

The words grief, creeps, thief, and steals all have the long “e” sound.

Prompt

Take a poem you’ve written and replace some words in order to create assonance.

For example, in my poem “You Asked Me to Write You a Poem about Coffee” I wrote, Baby, I love you like coffee. / Your morning face, warm in my hands, / perks me up the way the buzz of my alarm / never could.

If I want to create assonance with the “uh” sound of “love” and “ah” sound of “coffee,” I might change this stanza to Honey, I love you like coffee. Your sunrise mouth, cupped in my palms, / revs me up the way the buzz of my clock / never could.

Resource written by:

Featured

Anne Marie Wells

is an award-winning, Queer poet, playwright, memoirist and storyteller navigating the world with a chronic illness. She is a faculty member of the Community Literature Initiative through the Sims Library of Poetry. She was the 2020 recipient of the Milestone Award presented by Wyoming Writers Inc., and the Rising Star Award presented by the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce. She was the 2021 recipient of the Peter K. Hixson Memorial Award in poetry and was nominated as a Wyoming Woman of Influence in the arts category for her work in amplifying the voices of the LGBTQ and disabled communities in Wyoming through her writing.

Find her at annemariewellswriter.com | 📚 Read More by Anne Marie