What are the examples of assonounce in The Seven Ages of Man?

Answer 1

All speech has rhythm, including what I am writing now. But the speeches in Shakespeare's plays, including the one we are talking about now, are often written in what is called blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter. This means that the ten-syllable lines alternate between weak and strong syllables, starting with a weak one. Most of the lines in this speech follow this pattern: "inTO the LEAN and SLIPper'd PANtaLOON" for example. Some do not: "SEEKing the BUBble REPuTAtion" for one.

Answer 2

My favourite is "shrunk shank". Actually it is the only real alliteration in the speech, although Shakespeare does use a lot of sibilants (the letter "s" primarily) in the sixth age: sixth, slipper'd, spectacles, side, "pipes and whistles".

Answer 3

Probably the best one is "lined, with eyes". It is difficult, because to do it properly you should listen to the speech done in the kind of accent they had back then, which sounds a bit like the Somerset accent we associate with pirates. There is such a reading of the speech available at the site internetshakespeare.uvic.ca If you listen, you will find that although you might think that the word "severe" which follows "eyes" is an assonance, it actually isn't, because it sounds like "with good capon loined, with oyes sevair . . ."

Answer 4

"Shrunk shank" is probably the best example. "World too wide", "pipes and whistles in his sound", "quick in quarrel" are others.

Answer 5

For his shrunk shank and his big manly voice