Assonance, also known as internal rhyme, is the repetition of the same vowel sounds in words that are close together. The brand name Coca- Cola is an excellent example of both assonance (with the ‘o’ sounds) and alliteration (both words start with a hard ‘c’ sound). You will hear assonance in the next poem with the recurring ‘o’ sounds in ‘A host of golden daff odils’.
You will also come across similes in this poem. Listen out for them.
What I will learn:
theme and imagery
assonance (internal rhyme)
‘I Wandered Lonely
as a Cloud’ BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
I wandered lonely as a cloud That fl oats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay In such a jocund company: I gazed – and gazed – but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought:
