poetic device: Alliteration

Alliteration is not when words start with the same letter but, rather, when the first stressed (or accented) syllable of two nearby words begin with the same consonant sound. This means that there are basically three types of alliterations:

  1. When nearby words start with the same consonants and the same sounds, such as “dancing dogs”, or “big boys.”
  2. When nearby words start with different consonants but the same sounds, such as “cats and kittens” or “jungle gym.”
  3. When nearby words start with different sounds, but have the same sounds at the beginning of their first stressed syllable, such as “normal banana” (which each have an “n” sound on the first stressed syllable) or “regular karate” (which each have an “r” sound on the first stressed syllable).

These poems include alliterations. Some may have just a single alliteration within the poem, while others may include dozens of alliterations.

My Sneakers Are Speaking in German by Kenn Nesbitt
My Sneakers are Speaking in German
I Bought a Balloon
Gordon’s Garden
Forty Purple Porpoises by Kenn Nesbitt
Forty Purple Porpoises
What I Told Mrs. Morris when She Asked How I Was Feeling Today by Kenn Nesbitt
What I Told Mrs. Morris When She Asked How I Was Feeling Today
My Brother Wants to Be a Chef by Kenn Nesbitt
My Brother Wants to Be a Chef
I Have an Amoeba
Today Is the Day by Kenn Nesbitt
Today Is the Day
Auntie Gravity
Wally Wards the Sword Swallower by Kenn Nesbitt
Wally Wards the Sword Swallower
Back-to-School Shopping
How Not to Make a Cardboard Fort
Bed Head by Kenn Nesbitt
Bed Head
Gladiola's Garden by Kenn Nesbitt
Gladiola’s Garden
Bad Bertie Bartigan by Kenn Nesbitt
Bad Bertie Bartigan
My Mother Makes Prickly Pear Pastries by Kenn Nesbitt
My Mother Makes Prickly Pear Pastries
Bradley Beard by Kenn Nesbitt
Bradley Beard is Rather Weird
Pete the Pirate Wannabe by Kenn Nesbitt
Pete the Pirate Wannabe
The Horsemen Are Headless this Evening by Kenn Nesbitt
The Horsemen Are Headless this Evening
Jake the Yo-Yo Maker
Floyd the Coin Collector
Belinda’s an Expert at Bathing
Lucky Lou by Kenn Nesbitt
Lucky Lou
If You Ever Meet an Elephant