Euphony: Definition & Examples in Literature

Euphony refers to sound patterns that are used in poetry to achieve pleasing and harmonious effects. This is opposed to cacophony, which has harsh and discordant effects. This poetic device is achieved through a variety of means, which include: 

• Vowel sounds or assonance

• Liquid and nasal consonants (l, m, n, r, y, and w)

• Rhyme

• Subliminal imagery and metaphor

In particular, a lot of euphony relies on assonance. Words with assonance are generally easier to pronounce than consonants, making them more harmonious. Also, longer vowels tend to be more melodious. Euphony is often used in combination with cacophony, depending on the effect that the poet is aiming for.

However, euphony is not simply about sound effects. It is closely tied to other aspects of a poem, such as imagery, metaphor, meaning, and subtext, which one should never lose sight of in literary analysis. In this article, we take a look at how euphony works in poetry, including close readings of poems by Matthew Arnold and Kamau Brathwaite.

Kamua Brathwaite, who wrote the poem Kumina.

Examples of euphony

1. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Lotos-Eaters” (published in 1832)

In this extract, Tennyson describes the famous Lotos Eaters from The Odyssey, who feel no desire to return home after eating of the lotus fruit:

The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came.

The combination of liquid and nasal consonants, as well as the vowel sounds in the line do a good job of simulating the effect of what is being described: namely, men who eat a food that acts like a drug making them lazy, melancholy, and lacking in all energy.

2. John Keats, “Bright Star, Would I Were Stedfast as Thou Art” (published in 1838)

In this poem, Keats describes in the following two lines resting his head on the chest of his beloved: 

Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,

To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,

The “l” consonant sounds in combination with the “f” sounds emphasize and support the sensual imagery or softness of “ripening breast,” resulting in impressive euphony. 

3. Matthew Arnold, “Philomela” (published in 1853)

Arnold, here is describing the legend of Philomela using a form of personification known as pathetic fallacy, that is, giving human qualities to an animal. It is the ancient Greek story of a woman who was transformed into a nightingale by the gods after experiencing the trauma of sexual assault and mutilation. Arnold hears a nightingale singing in the night and speaks to it as if it were Philomela herself:

Say, will it never heal?

And can this fragrant lawn

With its cool trees, and night,

And the sweet, tranquil Thames,

And moonshine, and the dew,

To thy rack'd heart and brain

Afford no balm?

Arnold relies heavily on soothing vowel sounds or assonance and occasional liquid consonant sounds (especially “l”) to give a sense of comfort to a creature that is being tortured by the memory of trauma. The use of polysyndeton (that is, overusing conjunctions) also helps by giving a sense of the continuous beauty of the scenery.

He is hoping that his serene description of the quiet British landscape could at least provide temporary relief to the imagined Philomela. The rest of the poem is dominated by cacophony to describe the pain and sorrow of Philomela. We see a hint of this cacophony in the phrase “thy rack’d heart.” The predominance of ugly and harsh consonant sounds gives an impression of the pain that Philomela, the creature/woman, is experiencing. 

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4. Kamau Brathwaite, “Kumina” (published in 2005)

"Kumina" is an elegy for a Jamaican mother mourning a son who has died in a car accident through an African ritual. In the process, the poem goes through a variety of tones and moods. It is a long poem that shifts between devastating grief, melancholy, and frenzied despair. As a result, it uses both cacophony and euphony.

Here is an example of euphony being used to describe the deep and quiet grief of a mother trying to come to terms with loss, two days after her son has died:

on the second day

of yr death. i break a small

bread

i can still smell the sweet flour of yr firstborn flesh

The euphony here is difficult to explain. This is because it is a complicated effect. The poet relies on a literary technique known as defamiliarization, which involves taking an ordinary event (in this case, the breaking of bread) and transforming it into transcendental experience. How does he do so? Brathwaite uses a train of associations, linking the mother’s grief to the smell of bread and the nostalgia that it evokes, and lastly to the love and memory of her son as her firstborn. 

Her son was her life, as much as bread is often used as a metaphor or metonym for food and daily sustenance. It is a subtle and dense metaphor, which has a subliminal effect, even if it is not immediately recognized. 

It may even be a Biblical allusion, referencing a line from Jesus’ model for praying to God in Matthew 6:11, namely, “Give us this day our daily bread,” hinting at the mother’s grief mirroring that of Mary for her crucified son, Jesus. Lastly, the combination of “f,” “l,” and “fl” sounds, as well as the assonance and sibilance, in the last line adds to and even seals the euphonic effect. 

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Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2025, September 24). Euphony: Definition & Examples in Literature. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/euphony