-- abound), the accented vowel and all suc-
ceeding sounds are repeated, while the con-
sonants preceding the accented vowel vary.
Assonance, in its stricter sense, means the
repetition of an accented vowel (blackness --
dances), while the succeeding sounds vary, but
the terms "assonance" and "consonance"
are often employed loosely to signify har-
monious effects of tone-color within a line
or group of lines. Complete or "identical"
rhymes (fair -- affair), which were legitimate
in Chaucer's time, are not now considered
admissible in English. "Masculine" rhymes
are end-rhymes of one syllable; "feminine"
rhymes are end-rhymes of two syllables (un-
certain -- curtain); internal or "middle-
rhymes" are produced by the repetition at
the end of a line of a rhyme-sound already
employed within the line.

"We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea."

In general, the more frequent the repetitions
of rhyme, the quicker is the rhythmic move-
ment of the poem, and conversely. Thus,
the In Memoriam stanza attains its peculiar
effect of retardation by rhyming the first line
with the fourth, so that the ear is compelled to

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