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repeated sound

Sound
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A phonetic element that recurs throughout a poem for sonic or thematic effect

Explore this topic in depth (1)

Sound Devices in Poetry — Sound devices are the patterns of speech that make a poem memorable to the ear as well as meaningful on the page. This guide explains how to hear alliteration, assonance, consonance and other effects, and how to describe what they do without reducing sound to a checklist.

Detailed Definition
Repeated sound is a phonetic element that recurs throughout a poem or passage, creating unity, emphasis, or musicality through sonic repetition. This encompasses various techniques including alliteration, assonance, consonance, and rhyme, all of which employ sound repetition for aesthetic or rhetorical effect. Repeated sounds create connections between words, contribute to memorability, and add musical quality to verse. The strategic repetition of sounds is fundamental to what distinguishes poetry from prose, creating acoustic patterns that operate partly below conscious awareness while contributing significantly to the poem's total effect and the reader's aesthetic experience.
Example
Example in poetry:
In “The Raven,” Poe’s repeated “nevermore” creates repeated sound for haunting effect; In “Do not go gentle,” Thomas’s “rage, rage” uses repeated sound for urgency; Contemporary poet Tracy K. Smith repeats “black” in “Life on Mars” for sonic and thematic weight; In haiku, “wind wind through pines” uses repeated sound for atmosphere; Student exercise: “Blood blood on the moon” as repeated sound for intensity.
Additional Notes
repeated sound|Any sound that recurs across lines (vowels, consonants, syllables); forms the basis of rhyme, alliteration, and assonance.
Also Known As
sonic recurrence phonetic iteration auditory echo Conduplicative rhyme
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