Look. If you are studying Literature in English for your HKDSE, you need this.
You can see ‘the use of sound’ popping in here and there these years.
I know many of you have not even heard of it before.
Now you know it. Here’s a short summary that immediately comes to mind:
- Rhyme scheme
- Meter (e.g., iambic/trochaic?)
- Long/short vowel
- Sibilance
- Consonance
- Alliteration
- Parallelism (e.g., How much can come / And much can go, from Dickinson. Two parallel iambs)
- Stressed words (e.g., Come! Come! Come!)
- /w/, /r/, /l/ imitate movements (Dickinson again. It walked as wet as any Wave. The repeated /w/ imitates the movements of the wind)
The use of sound is, I think, the most difficult poetic technique you can come across. It is also the most important one as English is a syllabic language.
In 2023, Q7 in Unseen Poetry section asks you to ‘comment on the poem’s use of sound (rhyme, repetition etc.)’. The poem is ‘As I Came Home from Labour’ by F. C. Boden.
In 2024, HKEAA asks it in Poetry section. ‘Comment on the use of sound devices in poem (A), namely, “The Chimney Sweeper” by William Blake.’
Now, last year, the same pattern appears again and haunts many. ‘How does poem (A), “Like Rain it sounded till it curved”, make use of sound to achieve its effects?’
Prepare yourself for it and wish you a happy reading.