1 Dante wrote of consonants being ‘shaggy’ and ‘buttered’ pesca et hirsuto, combed and hairy’.

² In certain early, or fairly early poetry, and in certain fairly late poetry in which there is an alliterative scheme — such as Dunbar’s ‘Blind Harry’ — consonants have another rôle. See the note on Dunbar.

³ Cézanne, quoted in Major Pleasures of Life, Martin Armstrong.