Sounds

Sounds in poetry or fiction allow the reader to create a certain rhythm or cadence that adds to the atmosphere and meaning of the literature. Different sounds, exemplified by word choice, creates a rise and fall of the reader's voice which creates various moods for each type of literature. An example of sounds used in poetry is in the poem "Out, Out--" by Robert Frost: "And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled." The repeitition of both the 's' and the words themselves create the intense and sinister tone Frost portrays. The sinister tone also provokes the reader to create a sinister image through the sounds pronounced which forshadows the ending of the poem when the child is killed. Also, in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrates Hamlet as a depressed character through his soliloquies and uses sounds to show that Hamlet thinks of himself as a villian: "Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!" Hamlet has outbursts of emotion and this example shows that he questions himself of him being the actual villian. Shakespeare uses 'explosive' sounds to exemplify the outbursting emotoins and harshness.