Question

Explain how the alliteration in "Full Fathom Five" helps convey the atmosphere of the poem. Think about where the poem is set and what is described. Then, give two examples of alliteration in the poem, and describe how they add to the atmosphere.

Answer 1

First and foremost, we need to understand what alliteration is. Within this unit I have learned that alliteration is a figure a speech in which the same sound appears at the beginning of two or more words. Alliteration uses alliterative sounds that create your rhythm and mood of the particular poem or part of literature you are reading at the time, alliteration also grabs the reader’s attention and makes them focus or convey an idea or an emotion. A poet can use this knowledge and create what William Shakespeare has created and make their poems strong. (not saying that you absolutely need alliteration to create a strong poem).

The directions above say to think about the where the poem is set and what particular ideas and objects are being describe. Since this I decided to draw conclusions about this first.  The poem is about a dead father whose body turns into a piece of art after his death making the sea richer and more beautiful than before. His bones get transformed into coral and his eyes turn into pearls. The mood of the poem is, thus, sad and dark.

William Shakespeare uses alliteration in his poem “Full Fathom Five” to help convey the particular atmosphere of the poem. He does this by repeating the F sound in the line “Full fathom five thy father lies” and repeating the S sound in the lines “but doth suffer a sea-change, Into something rich and strange, Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell.” Using alliteration such as the examples above helped William Shakespeare to convey the atmosphere of his poem by just that, repeating particular sounds. This makes the reader rethink the particular rhyming of words and create the mood or tone of a poem, which then creates the atmosphere of the poem, they go hand in hand. The mood of the poem is sad and dark therefore the particular alliteration that Shakespeare uses not only portrays this but also portrays the saddened and gloomy atmosphere. This is how alliteration helps any poet convey the atmosphere of their poems.

Answer 2

The poem "Full Fathom Five" was written by William Shakespeare. It was a part of his story, The Tempest.

The poem depicts the dead father whose body instead of decaying became something beautiful. His bones became corals. His eyes became pearls. His death brings about a change in the sea making it richer.

Alliteration is a series of words in a row that have the same first consonant sounds.

Full fathom five thy father lies; → repeating F sounds
Those are pearls that were his eyes:  → repeating TH sounds