S&S c.13 Exercise pg. 234

1.      The second version by Charles Churchill excels the first version through the euphonious and rhyming phrase “your way by day”. The soft sounds create a more pleasant sound while compared to “shall be your guide by day”.

2.      The second version by John Milton excels the first version through the double-lettered words in “crabbed as dull” and “Apollo’s”. This cacophonous sound deliberately heightens the harshness the poet describes “fools” to be and how these “fools” condescend upon “divine philosophy”.

3.      The second version by Elizabeth Coatsworth is far greater solely through the repetitive sounds in “out-cast crows croak”. The letter C is cacophonous in the sense that the roughness of the sound deliberately contrasts crows to the “whiteness” of the setting.

4.      The phrase “twilight over silent water” contains repetitive cacophonous sounds; however, the repetition of the consonant “t” suggests the tranquility of the scene.

5.      The first version exceeds the second purely in the sense that the second version consists of jumbled “m” and “n” consonants. The second version creates a maelstrom of intermingled sounds whereas the first version consists of a smooth, melodious flow.

6.      The second version consists of cacophonous sounds in “harsh discordant” and “doleful flats”. This version exceeds the first, although keeping in mind that both versions are structurally and meaningfully the same, since the harsh tones highlight the unpleasantness of the lark’s tone.

7.      The second version exceeds the first version. The repetitive “b” sound in “bastions, batteries, bayonets” and “bullets” create a medley of cacophonous sounds to represent the constructiveness of war.

8.      The first version exceeds the second version because the repetitive “s” sound creates a euphonious, mellow tone throughout the two lines. This euphonious sound creates a pleasant tone to the ear.

9.       The second version incorporates a melancholy tone that is supported through hard, cacophonous sounds in “homeward plods” and “world to darkness”.

10.  The second version incorporates repetition in “childs of dirt” and “stinks and strings”. Also, the phonetic intensiveness in “flap” constructs a visual image of a bug along with creating a sensuous sound in “flap”.