Onomatopoeia is a literary device in which a word is pronounced in a manner that mimics the sound that goes with it. It is common in comic books, where words like “boom,” “thud,” “crash” and so on are used to describe the commotion of fighting.
In poetry, onomatopoeia can be either obvious or more subtle. In fact, a good poet combines a variety of figures of speech such as consonance, assonance, and alliteration to create onomatopoeia. Let’s look at an example.
Example of onomatopoeia
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has several examples of onomatopoeia. Let's focus on one short passage as an example.
Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (1834):
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!"
Coleridge is using Onomatopoeia here to imitate the sound of a sea that has been frozen over. He makes use of rhyme, assonance (i.e., repeated vowel sounds), and consonance to achieve this effect. We should also point out how onomatopoeia is being used here in a lighthearted way. The scene being described is absolutely desolate. However, the repetition, rhyme, and onomatopoeia make it feel like a fun and scary tale told to frighten children before bed.
Why do writers use Onomatopoeia?
Writers mainly use onomatopoeia to create atmosphere. The device can be used to match sound with meaning. This gives the reader a keen awareness of what is being described. In the case of Coleridge, he uses onomatopoeic effects to recreate a tone that is fun, lighthearted, and spooky.
Let's look at an example from another poem:
Noyes, “The Highwayman” (1906):
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard.
He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred.
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
The poet uses consonance, alliteration, and onomatopoeia to make us hear everything going on in the poem. He is particularly effective in the first line where we hear a horse galloping over cobblestones. If it were a movie, we would be given the perspective of Bess, the landlord’s daughter listening to her lover approaching by riding his horse clattering and clashing over the cobbles.
We would then hear him tapping at the window with his whip and whistling to get Bess’ attention. Noyes did not have the advantage of using a camera. However, he employs onomatopoeia to effectively transport us to the scene.
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The Voice by Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy’s “The Voice” (1912) is an excellent example of the refined use of onomatopoeia. The poem is about a man being haunted by the memory of a woman he used to love and who has died. He thinks that he is hearing her voice carried by the wind over the meadows.
The poem is tragic and subtle. In particular, Hardy describes the ghost of the woman as being a more wholesome version of the woman he knew before their relationship had soured and "when our day was fair" (Line 4):
Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me,
Saying that now you are not as you were
When you had changed from the one who was all to me,[3]
But as at first, when our day was fair.
Can it be you that I hear? Let me view you, then,
Standing as when I drew near to the town[6]
Where you would wait for me: yes, as I knew you then,
Even to the original air-blue gown!
Or is it only the breeze, in its listlessness[9]
Travelling across the wet mead to me here,
You being ever dissolved to wan wistlessness,
Heard no more again far or near?[12]
Thus I; faltering forward,
Leaves around me falling,
Wind oozing thin through the thorn from norward,[15]
And the woman calling.
Onomatopoeia is not the only literary device being used here. Hardy also makes effective use of symploce, that is, repetition in the beginning and end of a phrase. Symploce occurs in the first two stanzas.
In the first stanza, symploce occurs in the similarity between phrases repeated in the first and third lines — “call to me” and “all to me.” The first line is as follows:
Woman much missed, how you call to me, call to me,
This is repetition being used for onomatopoeia. The repetition of “call to me” creates a haunting effect. It also reproduces the sound of a ghost calling over and over again or at least the sound of leaves rustling in the wind and eerily sounding like someone calling. This is a highly creative and unconventional use of onomatopeia.
It is not the clang, bang, or boom that you expect with the device. Nonetheless, it works. Despite the bleak nature of the poem, the repetition creates a sense of spooky fun, similar to the effect in Colerdige's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."
However, in the third stanza, we get a more traditional example of onomatopoeia. Hardy uses consonance, sibilance (i.e., repetition of "s" sounds), and assonance to recreate the sound of the wind going through trees:
Or is it only the breeze, in its listlessness
Furthermore, the rhyming of “listlessness” with “wistlessness” reinforces the effect of wind rustling through the trees. Hardy saves the most impressive effects for the last stanza:
Thus I; faltering forward,
Leaves around me falling,
Wind oozing thin through the thorn from norward,
And the woman calling.
The “f” and "th" sound in “thus” and “faltering forward” create alliteration that makes the line difficult to pronounce, as if to give a sense of the poet actually “faltering.” This is further enhanced by the unusually placed semicolon after "I." This creates a hard and awkward pause or caesura. In short, the difficult pronunciation is meant to mimic the difficulty in walking.
Assonance is also used in Line 15 to create an onomatopoeic effect. “Ooze” is already an onomatopoeic word. However, when used in association with “through,” we get assonance that creates a haunting sound that goes well with the poem's ghostly theme.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, December 4). What Is Onomatopoeia? EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/what-is-onomatopoeia |
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