For much of the poem the speaker repeats the harsh 't' and 'd' sounds, 'The partial Muse, has from my earliest hours, / Smiled on the rough path I am condemned to travel” (1-2). This repetition of the harsh “t” and “d” sounds expresses the speaker’s anger at the talents that have been brought to her by the Muse. These sounds are very articulate and therefore full of nastiness. Additionally, the speaker uses much softer "s" sounds: "And still with a sporting hand he plucked wild flowers, / To weave fantastic garlands for my head" (3-4). Unlike the passion and nastiness that characterizes the "t" and "d" sounds, the speaker's "s" sounds are soft. These softer sounds reflect the speaker's sadness at the talents the Muse has given her. This unique blend of consonances continues throughout the poem. Even in the final verse, the speaker's consonance continues to create tension. Typically, the final verse of a sonnet serves to resolve the tension established by the preceding twelve lines. In Smith's "Sonnet I," however, the speaker's unwavering use of hard "t" and "d" sounds and soft "s" means that by the end of the sonnet the tension remains unresolved: " Ah! then, how much do the favors of the Muse cost, / If those who paint the sorrow best, it is the one who feels it the most! (13-14). Similar to the three quatrains, the harsh repetition of the “t” and “d” and the soft repetition of the “s” sounds continue until the final lines of the sonnet. Clearly, the speaker is both angry and saddened by the fact that she has the ability to "paint sorrow" simply because she "feels it the most." Throughout the poem, the speaker mixes harsh sounds with soft sounds in order to capture the two main feelings she has: anger and