Sounds around us -- 周りに聞く音

Before picking up the poem on p. 39, I asked you about sounds around you, sounds that you hear every day.

What do you hear in the morning?

What do you hear in the evening?

What do you hear when you wake up?

The following are some of the sounds that were mentioned:

• cicadas （セミ） chirping/buzzing
• sounds of the washing machine
• car sounds
• mother's voice
• sounds of cooking,

Then we talked about the poetic devices used in the poem --

• onomatopaeia -- 擬声・擬音語
• rhyme -- 押韻法、特に脚韻
• alliteration -- 押韻法、特に頭韻

Then I read the poem and we listened to the DVD, and we looked for pairs and groups of words that rhyme:

• sputters（ぱちぱち音） – gutters（特に浅い溝）
• hurrying – scurrying（小走り、ちょこちょこの急ぎ）
• races（競争） -- faces -- places
• nights -- lights -- heights（高い場所）
• creep（這う） -- sleep

"Swish, swash, sweep and swoosh" are examples of alliteration. Incidentally, swish, swash, and swoosh all have to do with sounds raised from sweeping motions.

The poem is constructed of onomatopoeia, invoking the sounds of the city.
この詩は都会の音を思い起こすような擬音で構成されている。

Other onomatopoeia not used in the poem include "snap", "pop", and "bang. Also, "click", as the clicking of a keyboard.

You might enjoy listening to the poem again. It's track 1.24.
この詩をもう一度聞いたら面白いかも知れません。トラック 1.24 です。