Consonance:

Etymology and Meanings of Literary Device of Consonance

Etymologically, the literary device of consonance is a derivative of a Latin term, consonantia, which means harmony or agreement. It has been derived from consonantem which is an agreement of sounds. It entered the old English in or around the 15^th century and has been in common usage since then.

Semantically, it means a combination of sounds that create harmony, or a pleasant combination of sounds, or harmony in tones.

Grammatically, it is a noun with plural consonances.

Definition of Literary Device of Consonance

In literary terms, it falls under stylistics. It is identified as a repetition of similar consonant sounds in words occurring close to each other. It is also considered an antonym of assonance, a repetition of vowel sounds in a similar fashion.

Consonance and Alliteration

Although it seems that alliteration and consonance are similar in some ways, they are entirely different. A consonance shows only the repetition of consonant sounds, while an alliteration shows the initial sounds of neighboring words as consonants. The similarity is only in that both show the repetition of consonant sounds that create perfect notes. For example, he fries frogs show the use of /f/ sound as an alliterate, while “He fries many of those frogs on the fire” shows the use of consonance as there are intervening sounds.

Literary Examples of Consonance

Example # 1

“The Darkling Thrush” by Thomas Hardy

I leant upon a coppice gate

      When Frost was spectre-grey,

And Winter’s dregs made desolate

      The weakening eye of day.

The tangled bine-stems scored the sky

      Like strings of broken lyres,

And all mankind that haunted nigh

      Had sought their household fires.

Read this stanza from the poem of Thomas Hardy’s “The Darkling Thrush,” and see that he has used consonants of different sounds. The first line shows the sound of /p/, the second of /w/, the third of /d/, and the last one of /h/. All these are beautiful uses of consonants that have created a rhythm in the poem.

Example # 2

“Possibilities” by Wislawa Szymborska

I prefer movies.

I prefer cats.

I prefer the oaks along the Warta.

I prefer Dickens to Dostoyevsky.

I prefer myself liking people

to myself loving mankind.

I prefer keeping a needle and thread on hand, just in case.

I prefer the color green.

These lines from “Possibilities” by Wislawa Szymborska show the use of consonants in different lines such as the sound of /r/ in the first three lines, and then /d/ in the second last and again /r/ in the last line.

Example # 3

“The Secret of the Machines” by Rudyard Kipling

We were taken from the ore-bed and the mine,  

   We were melted in the furnace and the pit—  

We were cast and wrought and hammered to design,  

   We were cut and filed and tooled and gauged to fit.  

These four lines occur in the poem of Kipling “The Secret of Machines.” He has beautifully used the sound of /w/ in almost all four lines successively, and also has used anaphora as “We were” which is an alliteration, too. This combination of consonants, anaphora, and alliteration has created a beautiful rhythm.

Example # 4

“The Carpenter’s Son” by Alfred Edward Houseman

“Here the hangman stops his cart:
Now the best of friends must part.
Fare you well, for ill fare I:
Live, lads, and I will die.

“Oh, at home had I but stayed
‘Prenticed to my father’s trade,
Had I stuck to plane and adze,
I had not been lost, my lads.

There are several consonances in “The Carpenter’s Son” by A. E. Houseman. Just try to spot /t/ in the first line, /h/ in the first line of the second stanza which is also an alliteration, and then /l/ in the last line of the second stanza. They make a perfect combination to give a rhythmic touch to the poem.

Example # 5

“The Chambered Nautilus” by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,

Sails the unshadowed main,—

The venturous bark that flings

On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings

In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,

And coral reefs lie bare,

Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.

There are several consonances and a beautiful alliteration of /s/. The first line shows the sound of /p/, while the second shows the sound of /s/ repeated several times. The sound of /s/ in the fourth line also shows an alliteration with /w/ as a consonance. All these sounds have created a perfect rhythmic pattern in this stanza from “The Chambered Nautilus.”

How to Create Consonance

Consonances occur in poetry as well as prose. You can create consonances in either poetry or prose. Just pick up words that sound similar such as this combination shows “sound similar” which is also a good alliteration. When writing a poem, get help from your thesaurus to create similar-sounding word clusters. This could be done in the following steps.

1. Write your ideas on a piece of paper.
2. Create verses or a paragraph in prose.
3. Now replace words that do not sound similar and insert similar-sounding words.
4. Read it to feel the rhythm of the words and read it aloud to feel it better.

Benefits of Using Consonance

1. A consonance creates high sounding rhythm.
2. It creates beautiful notes suitable for lyrics.
3. It creates a suitable metrical pattern.
4. It helps poets and writers to win readers through rhythm and melody created with consonances.

Literary Device of Consonance in Literary Theory

1. In literary theory, consonance is not of much help in interpreting literature. However, when it comes to formalism to observe tension and conflict in a poem, consonances help evaluate the rhythm, melody, and metrical pattern to reach the thematic strand that the poet wants to convey to the readers.
2. Besides this, it also helps indigenous literary writers to create indigenous or native rhythmic patterns.
3. It helps students theorize the poetic or prose structure of the writing.

Suggested Readings

Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary And Cultural Theory. Manchester University Press, 2020. Print.

Bennett, Andrew, and Nicholas Royle. Literature, Criticism, and Theory. Harlow, UK: Pearson, 2004. Print. Terhardt, Ernst. “Pitch, Consonance, and Harmony.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 55.5 (1974): 1061-1069.