Poetic Terms Dictionary
Sound Device

Dissonance

From Latin dissonantia: disagreement of sounds. The systematic use of dissonance as an expressive device was theorised by Ezra Pound and practised by Wilfred Owen (pararhyme).

Definition

The deliberate combination of clashing, harsh sounds to convey discord, pain, tension, or moral corruption.

Example

'With throats unslaked, with black lips baked' (Coleridge, Rime of the Ancient Mariner).

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