头韵(A lliteration)
头韵也称为双声,其特点是在一个词组或一句诗行中,有两个或两个以上词开头的音节或其他重读音节具有同样的字母或发音,从而形成一种彼此回应的节奏感和错落有致的韵律效果。
在英语谚语和习语中不乏双声的例子。含双声的谚语如“Care kills the cat.”(忧虑伤身);“Speech is silver,silence is gold.”(言语是银,沉默是金);“He laughs best who laughs last.” (谁笑到最后谁笑得最好); “God help those who help themselves.”(自助者天也助); “To run with the hare and hunt with the hound.” (两面讨好);“Through thick and thin.”(历尽艰险);“By hook or by crook.”(不择手段);“Over shoes,over boots.”(一不做,而不休); “Out of sight,out ofmind.” (久别情疏);“Where there is a will,there is a way.”(有志者事竟成);等等,数不胜数。
作为一种修辞手段,头韵法还通过特定字母在词语中的反复重现来模拟生活中的某种音响,从而产生形象生动的语言音效,这种表现形式常常在英语诗歌种出现,创造出一种特有的意境,并产生美感。例如,在A.Tennyson下面这两句诗(选自Come Down,oh maid)里,反复出现的辅音字母m象征着鸽子的呢喃和蜜蜂的嗡嗡声:
Themoan of doves in immemorial elms,
And murmuring of innumerable bees.
(古老的榆木林中鸽子的呢喃,还有成群飞舞的蜜蜂的嗡嗡声。)
又如在下面Samuel T.Coleridge的这段诗(选自The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)中,f的发音模拟出轻柔的风声,s的发音模拟船只飞快地破浪前进声:
The fair breeze blew,the white foam flew,(https://www.daowen.com)
The furrow followed free,
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
(微风吹,船如飞,
浪花紧随船尾追;
海静谧,风习习,
出航我们是第一。)