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The Declaration of Independence, Slant Rhymes, and the Poetry of Political Authority

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Abstract

It has long been accepted that the American Declaration of Independence draws on British constitutional tradition to establish its authority. Nevertheless, despite the existence of many literary readings of the document, no attention has been paid to its use of slant rhymes – rhymes that have similar but not identical sounds – to achieve its goals. This article seeks to fill this lacuna, expanding our understanding of how its authors employed both visual and aural aspects of British constitutional tradition to engender the authority required for the document’s widespread acceptance.

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