Reading poems is fun. They have rhymes, alliteration and assonance. Not sure what assonance is? Explore the meaning of this literary device and how you can use it in poetry. You can even explore some example assonance poems for kids of all ages.
What Is Assonance?
Just like a builder uses a hammer to build a house, a writer uses words as tools to create a lasting effect. One of the tools that a writer uses to make poems memorable is assonance. This is the repetition of vowel sounds in poems to set the tone or mood. Assonance is used with other tools like figurative language, rhyming and alliteration to make the poem interesting and the sounds grab the reader's attention.
Setting the Mood
Did you realize that when you speak, you set a mood? For example, if you use vowel sounds that are low like tub, it creates a lower, crude tone. However, if you use light, happy vowel sounds like wish, this is higher and more sophisticated. So, in your poems, if you use a bunch of light, airy vowel sounds then the poem can be lighter and happier. If instead, you choose to use lower, cruder sounds, this can create a low, dreary mood. Now if you repeat the same sound through assonance, you can set the mood for your poem. Want to see how it's done? Check out some examples.
Poems for Early Elementary
Kids love silly poems. Try out these silly doozies by Jennifer L. Betts that kids might get a kick out of. Can you spot the assonance?
Sunny Day Fun
The sun is shining high in the sky.
Ice cream is dripping down my cone.
I smile at my mother's sigh.
Hurry and eat so we can go to the fun zone.
The assonance is so subtle that sometimes it's hard to find. In this poem, shining, high, sky, ice, smile and sigh all have the long i sound. In the last line, so, go and zone all have the long o sound.
Gloomy Day
I waited watching the snail slowly wind a trail down the chain.
For a friend that never came.
My plain favorite red shirt had a stain from wet paint.
And that isn't my only complaint.
In this poem, it used the ay sound that is created through the words waited, snail, trail, chain, plain, stain, paint and complaint. This poor kid is having a bad day.
Examples Tweens Might Understand
Tweens still like poems but the subject matter is a bit different. Find the assonance in a few poems that older elementary kids might identify with by Jennifer L. Betts.
Loss of a Friendship
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The sound of the rain.
I strained against the pane,
To watch you drive away.
For years, we beat along the beach together.
I thought we would be forever.
But now my tears won't go away.
My best friend will be gone everyday.
In this poem we can see the pain of a friend moving away. There are a couple different assonances used. The first one is the a sound in bang, rain, strained, pane and away. There is also the long e sound in "we beat along the beach".
Church Bells
Hear the mellow bells swell.
Dwell on the happiness those bells foretell.
They too.
Find you.
Through the morning dew.
Clinging and clanging with the morning light.
Taking away the dark of night.
Hear the mellow bells swell.
Dwell on the happiness those bells foretell.
In the first and second line, along with the last two lines, you can see the repetition of the short e sound in mellow, bells, swell, dwell and foretell.
The Pain in Rain
The rain falls on the window pane.
It sails down the glass.
This plain rain mimics my pain.
But Alas
What am I to say?
I'm just unhappy on this day.
Do you see all the a sounds in this one? The words like rain, pane, sails, glass, plain, pain, alas, say and day all have the same sound.
Creating Assonance in Poetry
The literary devices that you can use to create original poems are vast. Assonance is just one, but it is a fun literary device that lets you play with sounds and mood within a poem. Now that you know the basics, try creating a poem of your own.
