Sound and Sense Chapter 13 Exercise

11-      A: The major difference between the two lines is the lack of the euphonious “gu—” sound present in the A but not in B. The use of the “gu—” sound adds a sense of security as in the “guide” and the “guard”.

22-      B: The sounds achieved in the words “harsh” and “crabbed” offer a more harsh tone than in the first set of lines, and the use of a more “l” sound in “Apollo’s lute” offer a more desirable tone than the “lute of Phoebus”.

33-      A: The first line offers more of a sense of assonance through the use of the “o” sounding tone in “crows croak hoarsely”, giving the piece a more calm and melancholy outlook.

44-      B: “Your voice” and “how bells” offer a more euphonious sound than the original “talk attests”, which in turn reinforces the subtle silence and loneliness in the piece.

55-      B: The use of parallelism in “immemorial” and “innumerable” in the second set of lines offer more of a sense of ferocity than in the previous lines, and the repeated “m” sound in “myriads” and “moan” reinforce this intensity.

66-      B: The use of the word “warbles” emphasize the “out of tune” that appears right afterwards because of the sound nature of the word. Also, the repeated euphonious sounds in “discordant”, “tones” and “doleful” reinforce the lark singing out of tune.

77-      B: The repeated euphonious sounds in “drums” and “guns”, “bastions” and “batteries”, and “bayonets” and “bullets”, as well as the ongoing “b” sound, serve to bluntly reinforce the message that weapons are a menace to society.

88-      A: The repetition of the “s” sound in “incessantly”, “softly” and “soiled” offer a more soothing tune towards the piece, which heightens the intensity of the daughter’s Death and Night cleansing the world.

99-      B: The repeated “l” sounds in “tolls the knell”, and the repeated “m” and “w” sounds in “plowman” and “homeward” add to the peaceful tone of the piece.

110-  B: As opposed to the sounds offered in the previous lines, this set focuses more on the rhythm, especially in the second set of lines. This short-syllable rhythm emphasizes the energy of the “bug with gilded wings”.