Consonance Poems
By Evan Smouse
What is a consonance poem?
A consonance poem involves words with repetitive sounds within a sentence or phrase. A consonance phrase can also involve two words with the same consonants like "bed" and "bad". This is similar to rhyming but not exactly the same.
This is a piece of the poem "Behind Me Dips Eternity" by Emily Dickinson containing consonance
Behind Me -- dips Eternity --
Before Me -- Immortality --
Myself -- the Term between --
Death but the Drift of Eastern Gray,
Dissolving into Dawn away,
Before the West begin --
Before Me -- Immortality --
Myself -- the Term between --
Death but the Drift of Eastern Gray,
Dissolving into Dawn away,
Before the West begin --
Explanation
This poem contains consonance in the way it repeats the "t" sound, such as in "Eternity", "Immortality", "Term" & "Eastern". Two of the words rhyme, but most share only the common consonant sound, which is typical of consonance.