This document provides an overview of the technical aspects of writing poetry that will be covered in an online course, including syllables, onomatopoeia, tempo, repetition, alliteration, and assonance. The instructor has published over 150 poems but does not have formal training. Types of syllables and their colors are defined, as well as how quantity, or length, of syllables can influence tempo. Examples from the poem "The Canary" are used to illustrate various techniques. An exercise is suggested to identify these elements in a verse from the sample poem. Additional resources are listed for further reading.

1. Technical Aspects of
Writing Poetry II--
Sounds
Colleen M. Farrelly

2. Meet Your Instructor
• No formal background in writing
• Published 150+ poems in 50+ peer-reviewed journals
– Free verse
– Formal verse
– Prose poetry
• Winner of multiple Best of Journal awards

3. What’s Covered in This Course
• Syllables
• Onomatopoeia
• Temp
• Repetition
• Alliteration
• Assonance
• Examples

4. Syllables
• The building blocks of words
• Long or short
• Groupings of sound types based on how they are physically generated
by the mouth and throat
– Different “color” to the ear
– Different connotations of words

5. Types of Color
• Liquidity
– Vowel-like sounds (l, r, w, most
vowels…)
– Long and soft sounds that flow
• Breathiness
– Fatiguing sounds (h, f, th, sh, s,
ch…)
– Breathlessness, hissing, or
whispering sounds
• Plosiveness
– Interruption of breath (b, p, t, d, g,
k…)
– Sounds that pop
• Harshness
– Throaty sounds (k, g, c…)
– Cacophonic sounds
• Resonance
– Prolonged and full sounds (n, m, ng,
z, zh…)
– Droning/humming sounds

6. Quantity
• Long or short to speak the syllable or word
– Drawl vs. pop
– Duration-based
• Influences tempo of poem
– Slowing down effect (introspection or drawing attention to the words)
– Speeding up effect (action or suspense)

7. Color and Quantity Together
• Combine for effect in a poem
• Example 1 (carrier pigeon in The Canary):
A furled billet fastened to his feet, he
hears the crack of muskets, feels the roaring
canons’ smoke choke him, choke the men.
• Example 2 (hummingbird in The Canary):
splash across beating wings and plump bodies,
as the summer symphony arranges
itself in a whirlwind of wings and breeze.

8. Onomatopoeia
• Suggests the natural sounds or physical qualities other than sound of
an object
• Examples:
– Pop
– Sprawled
– Whooshing
• Won’t carry that poem but can be used to invoke the object with sound

9. Tempo
• Overall speed of a poem, built from:
– Syllable color patterns
– Syllable quantity/duration
– Line qualities
• Short lines with plosives to highlight action in the poem
• Long lines with enjambment and long, liquid or resonance syllables

10. Repetition
• Repeating within a poem:
– A sound
– A word
– A phrase
– A line
– Multiple lines
• Draws attention to the sound/word/phrase/line being repeated

11. Alliteration
• Repetition of consonant sounds
• Examples (from The Canary):
– “flitting, fluttering“
– “dark, dank mines”
– “gasp and gulp”

12. Assonance
• Repetition of vowel sounds
• May vary from region to region
– Pecan pie in different regions of the US
• Examples (from The Canary):
– “scavenge savannahs”
– “canons’ smoke choke”
– “whirlwind of wings”

13. Example Exercise
• Highlight different types of syllable color, quantity, repetition,
alliteration, and assonance in a verse of The Canary
• Note any instances
• Note any influences on mood or tempo of lines or the verse overall

14. Example Verse (The Canary)
A lowly, forgotten canary
cannot leave its cage and fly above
rooftops and battle’s billowing smoke—Free!—
as the daring carrier pigeon or dove.
A furled billet fastened to his feet, he
hears the crack of muskets, feels the roaring
canons’ smoke choke him, choke the men. But fly
on he must—he flies from the cacophony
of bullets and bandages to safety
in the colonel’s tent. Pigeons carry
their messages in war as in peace, in
training as in life. But that is not my
mission, and I am not that brave pigeon.
I’m in my cage: a canary singing.

15. Other Resources
• Future lectures on poetry’s technical aspects
• Many wonderful books
– Creating Poetry (John Drury)
– The Prosody Handbook (Robert Beum and Karl Shapiro)
– The Poetry Dictionary (John Drury)
– A Poet’s Ear (Annie Finch)
– The Book of Forms (Lewis Turco)
– The Art and Craft of Poetry (Michael Bugeja)
– Spunk and Bite (Arthur Plotnik)