On the Late Massacre in Piedmont

The poem’s use of aural figures of speech is notable in fleshing out its themes and symbols. One of these is the pronounced use of assonance, where similar vowel sounds are repeated close to each other. The stressed “o” sound, often associated with the “oh” of agony or surprise, is repeated line after line, amplifying the bleakness and horror of the massacre. The Waldensians’s “bones” (Line 1) are strewn over mountains “cold” (Line 2). God must record their “groans” (Line 5) in his books, since they were “roll’d” (Line 7) down the hills, often tied down with rocks. Their “moans” (Line 8) redouble in echoes ricocheting across mountain faces, and the speaker’s hope is that the future generation of Waldensians survive the “woe” (Line 14) of their predecessors. Much of the rhetorical power, however, derives from “o” as an address, as the speaker calls upon God as “O Lord” (Line 1). Thus, the multiple assonances of “o” bind the poem together in urgency and appeal.

The sonnet deploys alliteration less often, but equally effectively, underscoring important details. The Waldensians are described as “slaughter’d saints” (Line 1), the soft yet sibilant “s” sounds adding to the air of menace in the poem. The phrase juxtaposes the gentler “saints” (Line 1) with the harsh “slaughter’d” (Line 1), highlighting the injustice of the poem’s central event: Something unnatural has been committed here, the poem seems to suggest through this particular phrase. The speaker then describes his ancestors as worshipping “stocks and stones” (Line 4), the recurring “st” sound effecting a monotony, implying that the pagan faith is lesser than the “pure” (Line 3) religion of the Waldensians. Another chief example of alliteration is “triple tyrant” (Line 12), the stressed and repeated “t” conveying the power and harshness of tyranny; the consonance (repetition of consonant sounds) of the “r” in the two words weighs the phrase with even more danger, phonetically conveying the political oppression.

The poem is structured as an apostrophe, or an address to someone or something who cannot respond to the speaker directly; in this case, the addressee is God. Milton’s use of apostrophe imbues the poem with an air of intimacy, creating a “you” to whom its speaker makes an impassioned entreaty and demand. The roots of the literary device lie in Greek theater, where a speaker often turns away from the audience to address an absent reality, creating a small private space. In the context of “Sonnet 18,” the apostrophe creates a direct, close, and private channel between God and the speaker, allowing the speaker to vent their fury and outrage. The address ‘O Lord” (Line 1) is typical in an apostrophe; however, the difference here is the imperative tone. At various points, the speaker demands God “Avenge” (Line 1), “Forget not” (Line 5) and “record” (Line 5) the atrocities against the Waldensians. The petition’s posture is complex; the desperation, however outraged, arises from the speaker’s mortal helplessness to change the situation without divine aid. The apostrophe therefore resembles demanding justice from a parental figure and predominantly dramatizes the Father among the three persons of the Trinity.