P O E T I C --- P A I N T I N G S


"Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen" -- da Vinci

To write poetry, you must read and, read some more -- Me





Dec 25, 2007

Weekly Poetic Terms

ALLITERATION
Also called head rhyme or initial rhyme, the repetition of the initial sounds (usually consonants) of stressed syllables in neighboring words or at short intervals within a line or passage, usually at word beginnings, as in "wild and woolly," or the line from Shelley's "The Cloud":

I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
Sidelight: Alliteration has a gratifying effect on the sound, gives a reinforcement to stresses, and can also serve as a subtle connection or emphasis of key words in the line, but alliterated words should not "call attention" to themselves by strained usage.

I use alliteration when writing my poems. Being a free verse writer, I tend to stay away from rhyme. Alliteration is as close as I will get to rhyming even though it isn't quite rhyme -- If that makes sense.

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