Sound

Dobyns has stated that one of the effects that he enjoys in writing poetry is the sound of the words that come together—not only the words, he has said, but even the sound of the individual syllables, consonants, and vowels. With this in mind, readers might want to pay attention to the sound of this poem. For example, in the first line, the words “morning” and “man” both begin with the letter m. The words “bed” and “because” both begin with the letter b. This is alliteration, the repetition of the same initial consonant in a string of words. The poet purposely creates a specific sound to which he is drawn. There is also the repetition of the word “cord” in the second and third lines, another purposeful act of writing, which adds emphasis to that word. Then, too, there is the repetition of the word “tighter...