Rishidev Chaudhuri takes a revealing “Ramble Through Vowels and Consonants,” and his discoveries are worth every poet’s time to read. I’m especially taken with the observation that vowels are formed by shaping airflow, while consonants are formed by restricting or interrupting airflow. These physical actions have emotional dimensions; I don’t mean rigid correspondences, but somewhat fluid relationships. We don’t grieve in consonants (Lear: “No, no, no, no! Come on, let’s go to prison”), and we don’t express anger in vowels (Malcolm to Macduff: “Let grief / Convert to anger; blunt not the heart, enrage it”).Read More