Onomatopoeia is the literary or poetic technique of using words that imitate the sound to which they refer. For example, a word that mimics a sound such as bark, clank, growl, meow, quack, ribbit, smash, swoosh or thud may be used to create the literary effect of onomatopoeia in poetry. Consider the words that Carl Sandburg uses to create sounds and interesting effects in his poem Honky Tonk in
. Cleveland, Ohio:
It's a jazz affair, drum crashes and cornet razzes.
The trombone pony neighs and the tuba jackass snorts.
The banjo tickles and titters too awful.
The chippies talk about the funnies in the papers.
The cartoonists weep in their beer.
Ship riveters talk with their feet
To the feet of floozies under the tables.
A quartet of white hopes mourn with interspersed snickers:
"I got the blues.
I got the blues.
I got the blues."
And . . . as we said earlier:
The cartoonists weep in their beer.
Sandburg uses words like "crashes," "razzes," "neighs," "snorts," "tickles" and "titters" to paint a literary picture of the sounds of a jazz ensemble. Another popular onomatopoeia poem with teenagers is one with the same name - "Onomatopoeia" by Eve Merriam.
The rusty spigot
Sputters,
Utters
A splutter,
Spatters a smattering of drops,
Gashes wider;
Slash,
Splatters,
Scatters,
Spurts,
Finally stops sputtering
And plash!
Gushes rushes splashes
Clear water dashes.
With onomatopoeiac technique, Merriam crafts certain words to create the sound effect of a rusty old faucet which comes to life only begrudgingly. More than just words like "sputter" or "splatter" or "plash," Merriam strings together a number of words that employ onomatopoeia to create individual sounds, but also she creates an entire effect by using these sound-happy words that few other techniques could achieve. For more information, please see the below links. http://www.mywordwizard.com/onomatopoeia-poems.html or http://www.brighthub.com/education/homework-tips/articles/47545.aspx
