Consonance is a poetic device characterized by the repetition of the same consonant two
or more times in short succession, as in "pitter patter" or in "all mammals named Sam are clammy".
Consonance should not be confused with assonance, which is the repetition of vowel sounds.
Alliteration is a special case of consonance where the repeated consonant sound is at the
stressed syllable, as in "few flocked to the fight" or "around the rock the ragged rascal
ran".
Alliteration is usually distinguished from other types of consonance in poetic analysis,
and has different uses and effects.
Another special case of consonance is sibilance, the use of several sibilant sounds such as
and . An example is the verse from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven: "And the silken sad uncertain
rustling of each purple curtain."
Another example of consonance is the word "sibilance" itself.
Consonance is an element of half-rhyme poetic format, sometimes called "slant rhyme."
It is common in hip-hop music, as for example in the song Zealots by the Fugees: "Rap rejects
my tape deck, ejects projectile/Whether Jew or gentile I rank top percentile."
Traditionally, consonance has been used to emphasize or imitate a sound in formal poetry
but is often used in modern days to create a tongue-twister effect.
See also Assonance
Alliteration Figure of speech
Rhyming References
External links Examples of consonance in poetry.