1. the repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words, especially in poetry
Usage: literary term

Examples

• The poet used assonance in the phrase ‘hear the mellow wedding bells.’
• Assonance creates a musical quality in verse through repeated vowel sounds.
• The line ‘fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese’ demonstrates assonance with the long ‘e’ sound.
• Teachers often explain assonance as internal rhyming of vowel sounds.
• Edgar Allan Poe frequently employed assonance in his poetry.
• The assonance in ‘slow and low’ gives the phrase a haunting quality.