Assonance

Assonance is one of the more difficult techniques to master when writing poetry. Assonance occurs when vowels are repeated in words that are close to each other.

There are three literary devices found in prose and poetry. These are:

Consonance - repeating the final consonant sounds of words. Writers usually focus on the accented syllables or the more important words to use in this technique.
Alliteration - repetition of the first sounds of words that are fairly close together. A common example of alliteration is the tongue twister.
Assonance - repetition of vowel sounds to set the mood or add to the meaning of the word.

Some common conditions that assonance constructions include...
- The repetitive sound must be that of vowels (A, E, I, O, U).
- The repetition must me quite systematic and is possible placed at a equivalent interval.
- Some literary experts may argue that the assonance construction cannot be a part of a simple rhyme or a rhyme scheme.
- It is a convention to have assonance in a singular sentence or line, it is rarely spread across more than one sentence.

The way you use assonance can change the mood of the poem:
- Long vowel sounds will decrease the energy at that point in the poem and make the mood more serious.
- Higher vowel sounds will increase the energy and lighten the mood.

The examples have been divided into songs and poetry. Have a look...

Assonance Examples in Poetry
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

The sound of 'O' is the assonance that is observed.

Assonance Examples in Songs
Modern song writers also use some beautiful assonance constructions in their lyrics. Here are some examples...

And in the air the fireflies
Our only light in paradise
We'll show the world they were wrong
And teach them all to sing along

In this very nice song by Nickelback, we have a nice gradual assonance if i's in the first two lines followed by an assonance of 'e'

The song Fade to Black by heavy metal legends 'Metallica' can also be not forgotten...

Life it seems will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters, no one else