Poetic devices 12: Cacophony

Cacophony, which means 'bad sound', is the opposite of euphony (good sound) and occurs in speech where there is a mix of harsh and/or inharmonious sounds. 

In poetry, cacophony refers to the use of words with sharp, harsh, sibilant (hissing) and especially unharmonious sounds – usually in the consonants of words – the poet uses to create an effect, emotion or atmosphere. Cacophony should not be confused with onomatopoeia which Matt Elmore has already elaborated upon.  A classic example of cacophony in poetry is Jabberwocky by Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll, even the title sounds discordant. 

Read the words out loud:

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; 

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe. 

Beware the Jabberwock, my son! 

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! 

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun 

The frumious Bandersnatch!

Yes, they are largely nonsense words, but the brilliance lies in the mix of the sounds and the way they discordantly flow to create the narrative. The use of the coined or made-up words creates sounds (or phonics) that imbue meaning into the elements Carroll is describing. Slithy toves are not ordinary toves - they are very slithy, and that sounds unpleasant. The jubjub bird sounds like a very irritating bird, because its name denotes the repetitive noise it makes... and so on. 

The tragedy Macbeth, written by Stratford-on-Avon bard William Shakespeare, is full of cacophonous passages of dialogue to depict descent into madness, and of course, this famous soliloquy, spoken immediately after a brutal and bloody murder:

Out! Damn spot! Out I say! One, Two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.

The last line in particular is quite chilling not least because of the cacophonous nature of the preceding texts. But it is the explosive and discordant nature of the first sentence that truly sets up and darkens the entire speech. The Bells by dark romantic poet Edgar Allen Poe is another example of how words can be used explosively to create not only terrific alliteration, but a full cacophony effect:

Hear the loud alarum bells– 

Brazen bells! 

What tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! 

In the startled ear of night 

How they scream out their affright! 

Too much horrified to speak, 

They can only shriek, shriek, 

Out of tune

Note the use of words such as scream and shriek - sibilant words that might put you on edge when you hear them! Poe depicts turbulence in so many ways in this one short passage of text. There are numerous other examples of cacophony in poetry, which I'm sure you will be on the look out for! 

Steve Wheeler

Previous posts in this series

1. Simile
2. Metaphor
3. Repetition and refrains
4. Alliteration
5. Assonance
6. End Rhymes
7. Internal Rhymes
8. Rhythm and Tempo
9. Enjambment

10. Allegory

11. Metonymy

Image from Pixabay 

Poetic devices 7: Internal rhymes

When I first started writing poetry, way back in my late teens, I wrote in a fairly simplistic style. I'll admit, most of my lines were written to be incorporated into rock songs as lyrics. But some of my verses stood alone as poems. I learnt to use end rhymes because that is often the way song lyrics are constructed. 

It was only much later in life that I unearthed internal rhymes. I discovered that can add another dimension to my poetry. They take a little more thinking than simply writing a poem with, say, ABAB end rhymes. Choice of words is important, but so too is attention to the sound of words or phrases. Poets can manipulate the pace and feel of poetry using internal rhymes.

This poem was written recently, and you'll see it exploits the idea behind internal rhymes. Line 7 in particular uses 3 rhymes (page, sage, age) in one line. It also uses another literary device known as enjambment, which will be the topic of another blog post.

Lines 3 and 4 weave in and out of two separate internal rhymes. It's a little more complex, but effective. Hopefully this creates a cool tempo and injects a little more interest into the composition:

All That Sin

Your grin will soon begin to thin
when all that sin is factored in.
Your smile will ail and guile will fail
when all your style begins to pale.
The arrogance of second chance
completes a dance of circumstance.
You close the page of sage; old age
departs the stage with silent rage.

It's not that difficult to master if you think about it. But word choice is vital. Think of phrases that also might rhyme inside a line. 

The poem Galoshes by Rhoda W. Bacmeister is very popular with school children. It's used to show them what can be achieved by using internal rhymes to create musicality and rhythm in poetry. It is also a useful example of onomatopoeia, alliteration, repetition and assonance - all in one poem!

Galoshes

Susie’s galoshes
Make splishes and sploshes
And slooshes and sloshes,
As Susie steps slowly
Along in the slush.
They stamp and they tramp
On the ice and concrete,
They get stuck in the muck and the mud;
But Susie likes much best to hear
The slippery slush
As it slooshes and sloshes,
And splishes and sploshes,
All round her galoshes!

There are more outrageous internal rhymes in poetry. You just have to look out for them. Or perhaps you can create your own? I will leave you with one more example from the absolute master of the internal rhyme - one of my favourites - the English spoken word artist Harry Baker. This is a verse from his poem Knees, taken from his Unashamed collection:

Knees

My knees make your knees 

weak at the knees.

For my knees your knees

get down on one knee.

They ask my knees to join your knees

in holy matrimo-knee.

My knees say wait and see.

My knees have been known to tease.

I love the multiple internal rhyming, and absoloutely adore the pun in line six! You can have a lot of fun with internal rhymes. Have a go!

Steve Wheeler

Image from OpenClipArt

Other posts in the Poetic Devices Series:

1. Simile

2. Metaphor

3. Repetition and refrains

4. Alliteration

5. Assonance

6. End Rhymes

Poetic devices 4: Alliteration

Hedgehogs hogging hedges! Martians munching marshmallows! Zombie zebras in the zoo! Fair is foul and foul is fair (from Macbeth by Shakespeare, of course).... What's it all about .... beyond the crazy wordplay?

The poem Astrophobos by Howard Phillips Lovecraft contains the following stanza:

Mystic waves of beauty blended
With the gorgeous golden rays;
Phantasies of bliss descended
In a myrrh’d Elysian haze;
And in lyre-born chords extended
Harmonies of Lydian lays.

What is so special about this passage of poetry? Well, there are plenty of features including allusion, and the lyrical tempo, both of which I will deal with in future posts. But you may notice that there are two instances of words with the same initial consonant sounds in close proximity - beauty blended and gorgeous golden - that add a mystical and magical quality to the work. This is known as alliteration, and is an often ignored poetic device that should attract more attention. 

There are numerous examples of alliteration in poetry, both throughout the ages. One of the most impressive recent pieces I've seen is by illustrious English spoken word artist Harry Baker (whom I saw perform live earlier this year). It's a piece that travels through the entire alphabet of alliteration, to bring a truly delightful confection of wonderful, stellar images. The poem, called The A-Z of Time and Space is performed below by Harry with copious use of his hands (some serious semaphore) and facial expressions (grimacing, grinning and gurning). See what I did there?

What does alliteration do for poetry? Well, it's a phonic technique to emphasise an idea. It relies on similar consonant sounds to help the poem flow and make sense (or not in the case of some nonsense poetry).  Used effectively, alliteration can add that extra something special to make your poetry stand out from the crowd. 

Try some alliteration in your own poetry. How could you use it to emphasise your themes, or bring additional dimension or meaning to your writing? Please post potential poems in the comments section below!

Previous posts in this series

1: Similes
2: Metaphors
3. Repetition and refrains

Steve Wheeler

Image by Emile Education