The Universe: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Much of the musicality in this poem comes from Smith’s use of alliteration—the repetition of nearby sounds. The first stanza contains the most extreme alliteration as Smith repeats “s” sounds in the following words: first, still, almost, snare, bars, sax, stratosphere, singe, soon. She continues the “s” sound throughout the poem, including the following: synthesized strings, something, cellophane, snagged, shoe, noise, voices, shavings, molasses, static, silence, disappears, and somewhere.

The “s” sounds give the poem a slick feeling. “S” is a soft, smooth sound. It flows easily. Because of those qualities, it nicely lends itself to music.

Smith also alliterates other sounds. Near the middle of the poem when she introduces humans, she repeats “f” and “t” sounds: for, flags, filled, fire, and tin, tried, and tame. These sounds don’t have the same slickness as the “s” sounds. They’re a bit thicker and more concrete. Such sounds better match the human song that does not flow in the same smooth manner as the universe’s song.

The end of the poem introduces “d” sounds: dark, imagined, audible, marbled, static (pronounced stad-ick), dare, and disappears (twice). The “d” sound is another rough sound subtly suggestive of the word death.