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.

The Headless Horseman's Hattery by Kenn Nesbitt
The Headless Horseman’s Hattery
Hank the Helpful Helper
Hank the Helpful Helper
A Hippo Is Bounding around on My Head
Bradley Bentley Baxter Bloome
It’s Winter Vacation
I Went to a Wishing Well
My Lunch Gave Me a Tummy Ache
Our Baseball Team Is Always Last by Kenn Nesbitt
Our Baseball Team Is Always Last
My Brother Might Be Bigfoot by Kenn Nesbitt
My Brother Might Be Bigfoot
My Brother Was Brought by a Bunny
When Sarah Surfs the Internet
A Goat in a Landfill
Lost Inside a Labyrinth by Kenn Nesbitt
Lost Inside a Labyrinth
We’re Running Out of Toilet Paper
Wendy Wise
I’m Wearing My Parrot
The Cow on the Hill by Kenn Nesbitt
The Cow on the Hill
The Noisy Boys from Boise by Kenn Nesbitt
The Noisy Boys from Boise
I Dressed up as a Dinosaur by Kenn Nesbitt
I Dressed up as a Dinosaur
I'm a Pirate and a Pumpkin by Kenn Nesbitt
I’m a Pirate and a Pumpkin
Today a Tiger Tackled Me by Kenn Nesbitt
Today a Tiger Tackled Me
When Frankenstein Sat Down to Dine by Kenn Nesbitt
When Frankenstein Sat Down to Dine
Ugly Couple
Cookies for Santa