Choose the poem that uses onomatopoeia.
Every man has got a hobby,
Every poet has some fault,
Every sweet contains its bitter,
Every fresh thing has its salt.
Every mountain has a valley. Up from the river came
The low and sullen roar
Of lions, with eyes of flame,
That haunted its reedy shore,
And the neigh of the hippopotamus.
From George Reginald Margetson, "Stanzas from the Fledgling Bard and the Poetry Society" and From Maria Lowell, "Africa"
Poets often use the sounds of words to create interesting effects and to express moods and emotions. Understanding these elements of poetry can help you better interpret and appreciate poetic forms.
Anaphora is the repetition of words or sequences of words at the beginning of multiple phrases, sentences, or lines.
Out of the cradle endlessly rocking,
Out of the mocking-bird's throat, the musical shuttle,
Out of the Ninth-month midnight
—From Walt Whitman, "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"
Onomatopoeia is when language sounds like what it talks about.
Sometimes the onomatopoeia uses made-up words:
Tlot-tlot! tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse hoofs ringing clear.
—From Alfred Noyes, "The Highwayman"
Sometimes the onomatopoeia uses real words:
Hark! the honey bee is humming.
—From Mary Howitt, "The Voice of Spring"
Alliteration is when beginning consonant sounds are repeated in words that are close together.
Where the wild men watched and waited
Wolves in the forest, and bears in the bush.
—From Bayard Taylor, "A Night with a Wolf"
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Often, assonance can create rhymes or near-rhymes within lines.
I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er Vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden Daffodils.
—From William Wordsworth, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"
Meter is a poem's rhythm, or the pattern of strong and weak syllables. Strong syllables are stressed, while weak syllables are unstressed.
A poem has an iambic meter when the beat sounds like da-DUM. A weak syllable is followed by a strong syllable. Occasionally, a line may begin with a strong syllable.
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
—From Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Eagle"
A poem has a trochaic meter when the beat sounds like DUM-da. A strong syllable is followed by a weak syllable. Occasionally, a line may end in a strong syllable.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
—From Edgar Allen Poe, "The Raven"
Free verse is when a poem has neither a regular rhythm nor a rhyme pattern.
The old bridge has a wrinkled face.
He bends his back
For us to go over.
—From Hilda Conkling, "The Old Bridge"
The syllables in bold are strong. You can see this poem does not have a regular rhythm. It also doesn't have a rhyme pattern.
This poem uses onomatopoeia. It uses language that sounds like what it talks about.
And the neigh of the hippopotamus.