Donald Hall

New poems no longer come to me with their prodigies of metaphor and assonance. Prose endures. I feel the circles grow smaller, and old age is a ceremony of losses, which is, on the whole, preferable to dying at forty-seven or fifty-two.

American Poet

Carrie Brownstein

I think people would describe a lot of Sleater-Kinney as unsettling. And I don't think our best moments have sonic assonance to them. I think that we are best with a little bit of... a caustic attitude and tone.

American Musician

Margaret Atwood

Like many modern poets, I tend to conceal rhymes by placing them in the middle of lines, and to avoid immediate alliteration and assonance in favor of echoes placed later in the poems.

Canadian Novelist

Austin Clarke

Assonance is not the enemy of rhyme. It helps us to respect rhyme, which has been spoiled by mechanical use.

Irish Poet

Assonance adds rhythm and musicality to poetry, making it pleasing to hear.

Poetic Device

Unlike rhyme, assonance doesn't match consonant sounds, so it's a softer, more subtle effect.

Subtle Rhyming

Assonance can convey specific moods or emotions by repeating certain vowel sounds.

Mood Creator

Identifying assonance helps in analyzing literature and understanding an author's style.

Recognition Skill

Assonance can be a powerful tool for rhymers and rappers where exact rhymes are not used.

Beyond Rhymes

Assonance is often appreciated more when heard than when read, enhancing spoken word.

Oral Comprehension

 Oh, there goes rabbit, he choked, he so mad but he won't give up that easy, no, he won't have it, he knows his whole back's to these ropes." The alternating assonance creates its own rhythm, and invites us to try our own voices in echoing it.