Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in nearby words, usually in the middle or at the end rather than at the beginning. Poets use it to create texture, unity, or a subtle sense of rhythm. It is different from alliteration, which repeats initial consonant sounds. In practice, consonance often overlaps with other sound devices such as rhyme and assonance.
For example, the "t" sound in "Is it blunt and flat?" Alliteration differs from consonance insofar as alliteration requires the repeated consonant sound to be at the beginning of each word, where in consonance it is anywhere within the word, although often at the end. In half rhyme, the terminal consonant sound is repeated. A special species of consonance is using a series of sibilant sounds (/s/ and /sh/ for example); this is sometimes known simply as sibilance.
Example
The lake was dark and thick with musk,
A slick black stone lay by the dock.
The repeated k and ck sounds create consonance across the lines.
- Several good examples of sibilance come from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" For example: "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain" (note that this example also contains assonance around the "ur" sound).
- Another example of consonance is the word 'sibilance' itself.