Poets often use sound effects, including alliteration (the repetition of consonantal sounds) and sibilance (a hissing sound effect achieved using ‘s’ and/or ‘sh’ sounds) to enhance their poetry.
ALLITERATION
Rich’s expert use of alliteration draws the reader’s attention to important details in the poem. She often pairs alliteration with another literary technique. For example:
„„‘Aunt Jennifer’s fingers fluttering through her wool/ Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.’ (‘Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’)
The alliteration of ‘f’ draws our attention to Aunt Jennifer’s ‘fluttering’ fingers, which are moving quickly yet anxiously. It also links to ‘Find’, emphasising the difficulty she is having with her task.
„„‘What winds are walking overhead’ (‘Storm Warnings’)
Here, alliteration emphasises the winds’ dangerous currents, adding a sense of tension and linking in with the title (this is also an example of personification, a technique Rich does not use very often in her poetry).
„„‘First the air is blue and then/ it is bluer and then green and then/ black I am blacking out’ (‘Diving into the Wreck’)
The alliteration of ‘b’ sounds emphasises the speaker’s uneasy descent into the deep water, from ‘blue’ to ‘black’ (this is also an example of repetition).
