Unlocking the Secret Symphony: How Rhythmic Writing Transforms Language into Music
This rhythm can be conveyed, for example, by the repetition of a two-syllable pattern that creates a beat, as in this passage from Anna Kavan’s novel Ice:
“An insane impatience for death was driving mankind to a second suicide …”
Note the repetitive use of two-syllable words and word combinations: insane, for death, driving, mankind, second. Breaking and re-starting the pattern is another skillful way that Kavan engages the reader’s brain, so that the rhythmic pattern itself does not become tedious: the three-syllable words impatience and suicide are just slight deviations that break the pattern just enough, but in a very gentle way. Add to that the alliteration of insane impatience and second suicide, and the passage becomes very pleasing to the reader.
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