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.

Boney Mahoney

Veronica Ving

Molly Has a Myna Bird

Dexter McDwyer

Sailing Off to Singapore

Nile and Nate

Finnegan Flanagan Fox

If You Happen to Hop

Eb and Flo