Assonance Examples: 250 Sentences, Poems And Songs

Assonance repeats a vowel sound in words a few syllables apart that end in different consonants, as in high as a kite or the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Each vowel sound comes with its own examples, so you reach the one you need without reading through the rest. Not a single line here is a rhyme in disguise.

Assonance Examples In Sentences

• The train stayed late at the station.
• A grey crane waded near the lake.
• She saved the plates from the flames.
• They played a strange game today.
• We greet the chief at the east gate.
• She feels weak in the freezing heat.
• Three geese sleep beneath the reeds.
• He speaks each evening to the team.
• The pilot climbed high in the twilight.
• My white shirt dried behind the fire.
• Nine wild vines lined the drive.
• She tried to find the shiny knife.
• The lonely goat strolled past the grove.
• Both boats floated close to the shore.
• He broke the code and drove home.
• Frozen ropes hung from the old post.
• The crew moved past the ruined tomb.
• Blue fumes rose from the fuel.
• A huge moose moved past the pool.
• She chewed the smooth fruit slowly.
• The angry man ran back to the cabin.
• A cracked branch snapped in the grass.
• The lambs stamped along the sandy path.
• That mad plan cost him his cash.
• The wet hedge bent in the west wind.
• He spent every penny on the bet.
• Seven eggs rested on the shelf.
• She held the pen against her chest.
• The quick fish slipped through the mill.
• His stiff limbs twisted in the wind.
• Six inches of drizzle hit the bridge.
• The soft fog crossed the rocky plot.
• He dropped the box on the wooden block.
• A long shot knocked the flask off.
• The rough truck rumbled up the slope.

Long Vowel Assonance Examples

A long vowel says its own name: the A in late, the E in green, the I in high, the O in stone, the U in blue. Long vowels lengthen a line, which is why they suit slower, heavier writing. For a refresher on the five long and short vowels themselves, the practice sets cover each sound separately.

Long A

• The brave sailor stayed awake.
• Eight stray cranes waded in the lake.
• She placed the vase on a plain shelf.
• Rain fell on the gate and the pale fence.
• A faint shade of grey covered the lake.
• Late waves made a safe grey lane.
• They waited at the same shady gate.
• The baker’s face turned pale with rage.
• A great wave shaped the bay.
• He made his way to the train station.

Long E

• The green team reached the deep field.
• We need three clean sheets.
• She keeps sweet peaches in a clean dish.
• Each sheep feeds beneath the tall tree.
• The eager teacher repeated her reason.
• The green leaves gleam in the heat.
• We need to reach the deep stream.
• Free seats wait beneath the east beach wall.
• Peace means keeping the streets clean.
• The chief agreed to leave the meeting.

Long I

• A quiet child climbed the high pine.
• Five white kites flew beside the lighthouse.
• The fine light behind the blinds died.
• I might drive nine miles inside an hour.
• My mind is fine despite the time.
• The night sky shines behind wide clouds.
• A wild fire climbed the island’s spine.
• Nine tiny spiders lined the white pipe.
• The high price of limes surprised my wife.
• She smiled at the bright sign outside.

Long O

• The old rope broke on the stone steps.
• A lone boat rolled toward the coast.
• He rose slowly and spoke to the old woman.
• Smoke rose over the cold stone.
• Most of the gold was stolen.
• The road home goes over a low bridge.
• Grey smoke rose above the old road.
• She wrote in code and closed the old phone.
• Snow froze on the whole slope.
• His throat closed against the cold smoke.

Long U

• A blue moon lit the smooth pool.
• Loose boots moved through the pool.
• The moon threw a cool light on the roof.
• A smooth tune moved the whole room.
• The truth about the group proved true.
• Few students choose the longer route.
• A cool group moved through the room.
• She used a spoon to taste the soup.
• Two loose wires hung from the roof.
• The new rules proved cruel.

Short Vowel Assonance Examples

Short vowels are clipped: the A in cat, the E in bell, the I in ship, the O in clock, the U in sun. They quicken a line and sharpen it, which is why tense and comic writing uses them heavily.

Short A

• The sad man grabbed a black lamp.
• That angry cat scratched my hand.
• One clap cracked the flat glass panel.
• The lamp cast a flat shadow.
• Dad packed the last bag in the van.
• The angry man stamped across the sand.
• The class laughed at his mad plan.
• A fat rabbit ran past the trash.
• She grabbed the black hat and ran.
• The sand was damp and cracked.

Short E

• Ten guests held the heavy bell.
• The red hen pecked at the fresh nest.
• He left ten letters on the desk.
• The best friends never left early.
• Ben checked the empty shed.
• He left the fresh eggs on a wet bench.
• She sent a message to every guest.
• The bell rang at the edge of the fence.
• Ten steps went up to the red bench.
• He kept his best pens in a wet desk.

Short I

• Six thin ships drifted in mist.
• The kid slipped and hit his shin.
• Fish swim quickly in the river.
• She lifted the tin lid with stiff fingers.
• The wind whistled in the big city.
• The thick wind lifted his stiff grip.
• His thin lips split in the chill.
• The rich king lived in a big villa.
• Six silver pins slipped into the mist.
• The kitten hid inside the thick bin.

Short O

• The lost clock stopped on the shelf.
• A strong fox hopped across the pond.
• Tom dropped the soft cloth on the rock.
• The dog got lost beyond the pond.
• Odd knocks stopped the soft song.
• The lost clock dropped off the top shelf.
• The soft moss crossed the rocky top.
• He got a job washing pots.
• The hot rock blocked the pond.
• Odd boxes sat beyond the long dock.

Short U

• The sun rushed dust up the rough track.
• My younger brother loves summer.
• A young skunk jumped onto the rug.
• She cut the tough crust with one thumb.
• Mud stuck to the front bumper.
• The dull thud struck under the floor.
• One hundred trucks rushed up the hill.
• He loves the rush of a summer month.
• Some of the mud stuck to his gloves.
• The young cub jumped from the trunk.

Assonance Examples In Everyday Sentences

Everyday sentences at ordinary length, one vowel carrying each line.

• The train stayed late at the station.
• A grey crane waded near the lake.
• She saved the plates from the flames.
• They played a strange game today.
• We greet the chief at the east gate.
• She feels weak in the freezing heat.
• Three geese sleep beneath the reeds.
• He speaks each evening to the team.
• The pilot climbed high in the twilight.
• My white shirt dried behind the fire.
• Nine wild vines lined the drive.
• She tried to find the shiny knife.
• The lonely goat strolled past the grove.
• Both boats floated close to the shore.
• He broke the code and drove home.
• Frozen ropes hung from the old post.
• The crew moved past the ruined tomb.
• Blue fumes rose from the fuel.
• A huge moose moved past the pool.
• She chewed the smooth fruit slowly.
• The angry man ran back to the cabin.
• A cracked branch snapped in the grass.
• The lambs stamped along the sandy path.
• That mad plan cost him his cash.
• The wet hedge bent in the west wind.
• He spent every penny on the bet.
• Seven eggs rested on the shelf.
• She held the pen against her chest.
• The quick fish slipped through the mill.
• His stiff limbs twisted in the wind.
• Six inches of drizzle hit the bridge.
• The soft fog crossed the rocky plot.
• He dropped the box on the wooden block.
• A long shot knocked the flask off.
• The rough truck rumbled up the slope.

Assonance Examples For Kids

Three and four word phrases show the pattern as clearly as full sentences do, and the repeated vowel arrives before a young reader loses track of it. Read each one aloud twice.

Long vowel phrases

• Sweet green trees
• A lone boat floats
• High wide skies
• Cool blue moon
• Grey rain came
• Deep green field
• Old stone road
• Five white lines
• Smooth blue pool
• A safe pale lane
• Slow gold smoke
• Three sweet peaches
• Nine ripe limes

Short vowel phrases

• A black flat cap
• Ten wet steps
• Six thin pins
• A soft lost sock
• Mud on the rug
• A sad black bag
• Fresh red eggs
• Big thick lips
• Odd long socks
• One young cub
• That mad cat scratched
• The clock stopped

Assonance Examples For Students

Longer sentences at the level coursework and exam answers call for, where the vowel has to survive a full clause.

• The pale grey rain stayed over the lake until late afternoon.
• She waited in the shade and gave no reason for staying.
• The brave neighbour saved eight strangers from the flames.
• A faint trace of grey remained on the ancient frame.
• They arrived at the same quiet place and stayed all day.
• The chief speaker repeated each reason until the meeting agreed.
• Deep beneath the green sea the reef seemed to gleam.
• We agreed to leave the east field before evening.
• Her speech was brief and the whole team felt relieved.
• Three weeks of freezing sleet kept the streets clean.
• The wide night sky behind the pines lit my climb.
• Five miles behind the island the wild fire finally shrank.
• My mind kept a quiet line between kindness and pride.
• The pilot smiled at the size of the sky outside.
• Nine white lilies climbed the wire behind the drive.
• The lonely road rose over the cold slope toward the coast.
• He spoke of gold and hope until the whole plan closed.
• Most of the stolen coats were thrown into the moat.
• Cold snow drove across the stones and froze the open ground.
• The old note he sealed showed no hope at all.
• The crew proved the truth about the ruined school.
• Few students choose to move before noon.
• A cool blue moon lit the loose roof tiles.
• The rumours proved untrue and the group soon left.
• Her smooth tunes drifted through the empty room.
• The angry man snapped and the flat glass cracked.
• Ten fresh eggs rested on the bench next to the shed.
• Six thin ribbons slipped from the lid and hit the sill.
• The lost dog got trapped beyond the rocky pond.
• Her young brother struggled up the muddy hill in the rush.

Assonance Examples In Questions And Commands

The pattern survives a change of sentence form, and hearing it inside a question takes more practice, because the rising intonation competes with the vowels for your attention.

Questions

• Which shade of grey paint did they take?
• Why does the thin wind whistle in the mist?
• How deep is the green stream in the field?
• Did the old boat reach the coast?
• Will you find nine white limes?
• Who moved the loose stool into the room?
• Did that black cat scratch your hand?
• Has the dull thud struck once more?
• Where did the old boat go?
• Will you keep the green leaves dry?
• How did the black cat grab that lamp?

Commands

• Take the grey plate off the shelf.
• Keep the green leaves in the heat.
• Find the fine white knife.
• Roll the old stone off the road.
• Choose a smooth blue tune.
• Grab that black bag.
• Lift the thick tin lid.
• Fix the thick lid onto the tin.
• Move the loose stool into the room.

Assonance Examples In Poetry

Ten passages from published poems, each with its repeated vowel named.

Edgar Allan Poe, “The Bells”

Hear the mellow wedding bells

Short E across mellow, wedding, and bells, three words with three different endings.

Edgar Allan Poe, “Eldorado”

Gaily bedight, / A gallant knight / In sunshine and in shadow

Long O in Eldorado and shadow, with the short A of gaily and gallant running underneath.

William Blake, “The Tyger”

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, / In the forests of the night

Bright and night rhyme, so the assonance is Tyger answering both with the same long I and a different ending.

William Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

A host, of golden daffodils

Long O in host and golden, which opens the vowel and slows the line at the moment the flowers appear.

John Keats, “Ode to a Nightingale”

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains / My sense

Long A in aches and pains, placed at either end of the sentence so they answer each other.

Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach”

moon-blanched land

Short A in blanched and land, flattening the vowel until the shoreline sounds as drained as it looks.

Elizabeth Bishop, “The Fish”

tiny white sea-lice

Long I across tiny, white, and lice, thin and sharp, which is exactly what Bishop is describing.

Langston Hughes, “Mother to Son”

But all the time I’se been a-climbin’ on, / And reachin’ landin’s

Long I in time and climbin’ shifting to short I in landin’s as the speaker climbs.

Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”

Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Long A in rage and against, long I in dying and light, two patterns in one line.

Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb”

When day comes we ask ourselves, / where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

Long A opening on day and closing on shade, so the question begins and ends on one vowel.

Assonance Examples In Prose And Novels

James Joyce, “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”

Soft language issued from their spitless lips

Short I in issued, spitless, and lips, which keeps the sentence thin until the speech itself sounds dry.

Five constructed prose examples at the length novels actually use.

• Long O: the long grey road wound past the old stone farmhouse and stopped where the slope broke open.
• Short E: she kept her hands in her lap and let the bench settle her temper before she spoke again.
• Short I: thin light slipped between the blinds and lit the still dust hanging in the middle of the sitting room.
• Long U: the truth about the group proved cruder than the rumours, and nobody moved to prove otherwise.
• Long E: the evening breeze reached the east field and the wheat leaned as one sheet.

Assonance Examples In Songs And Rap

A sung vowel is sustained while a consonant is not, so matching vowels across a phrase gives songwriters a pattern the ear catches even when no two words rhyme.

• Eminem repeats a single vowel through mid-line words so the bars connect internally rather than only at the ends.
• Kendrick Lamar shifts the governing vowel between verses, changing the texture of a track without changing its beat.
• Lin-Manuel Miranda works assonance across Hamilton to let dense historical vocabulary land on a rhythm, since proper nouns rarely rhyme but frequently share vowels.
• Nirvana sustains long vowels across slow phrases, which is why lines that read plainly in print sound heavy when sung.
• Thin Lizzy keeps one vowel steady through rock storytelling while the narrative moves.
• Rap as a form favours the device over end rhyme, since four or five words on one vowel give the cohesion of rhyme without forcing every bar to close on the same sound.

Assonance Examples In Idioms And Phrases

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain gets quoted everywhere, but rain, Spain, and plain rhyme outright. The genuine assonance is the long A shared by stays and mainly, which end on different consonants.

Assonance Examples In Advertising Slogans

Beanz Meanz Heinz is the standard counter-example. All three words end on the same Z, so it is rhyme rather than assonance, however many lists of sound devices place it here.

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