Examples for the word alliteration

Alliteration Definition

What is alliteration? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Alliteration is a figure of speech in which the same sound repeats in a group of words, such as the “b” sound in: “Bob brought the box of bricks to the basement.” The repeating sound must occur either in the first letter of each word, or in the stressed syllables of those words.

Some additional key details about alliteration:

• Alliteration is the repetition of sounds, not just letters.
• Alliterative words don’t have to be right next to each other. Other words can appear between them.
• Alliteration is found often in poetry and prose, as well as in commercial writing like brand names and marketing taglines.

How to Pronounce Alliteration

Here’s how to pronounce alliteration: uh-lit-uh-ray-shun

Understanding the Rules of Alliteration

Alliteration is complicated enough, and there are enough misconceptions about it, that it’s worth taking a closer look at the rules that cover how alliteration works.

Alliteration Doesn’t Require Sequential Words

The repeated sounds of alliteration do not have to appear in sequential words, one immediately after another. A phrase can still contain alliteration if the repeated sounds are separated by other words. For instance, the example below is alliterative despite the “a” and “of”.

• Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Alliteration Refers to Repeating Sounds, Not Letters

Alliteration isn’t just about repeated letters. It’s about repeated sounds:

• Crooks conspire with the kind king.

This example is alliterative because the “c” and “k” produce the same sound even though they are different letters.

Alliteration, First Syllables, and Stressed Syllables

Some people believe that alliteration occurs whenever the repeating sounds occur in the first syllable of a word, while others argue that alliteration only occurs when the sounds occur on stressed, or emphasized, syllables. People holding these two separate views on alliteration would disagree on whether the following two examples are alliterative:

• Dan declares that he deserves to debate.
• Crooks conspire with the unkind king.

In the first example, the “d” sound clearly occurs in the first syllable of each word, but in three of the words it occurs on an unstressed syllable (de-clares, de-serves, de-bate). In the second example, it occurs in the second syllable of “unkind,” but that second syllable is the stressed one: «un-kind.”

So which side is right? The short answer is that both definitions of alliteration are currently accepted. But, not so long ago, only the stressed-syllable version of alliteration was considered legitimate. Even today many people who really care about alliteration—poets, for instance—would insist that the stressed syllable viewpoint is correct.

Vowels Can Alliterate

While alliteration nowadays most often refers to repetition of the sounds of consonant, vowels can alliterate. For instance, “American alliteration” is alliterative. That said, «open octagon» isn’t really alliterative because the «o» makes different sounds in those two words.

Consonant Clusters Affect Alliteration

Alliteration sticklers may contest that the best use of alliteration takes into consideration how certain combinations of consonants affect the resulting sounds. For instance, they might argue that the example “Sam speeds with skill through the storm” is not alliterative because the clusters of “sp,” “sk,” and “st” have their own distinct sounds and therefore don’t alliterate with each other or with a single “s.” This is not a hard and fast rule by a long shot (and we have an example below from none other than Charles Dickens that actually does alliterate with “st” and “sp”) but the way that consonant clusters can affect the degree of alliteration is still worth knowing about.

Alliteration vs. Consonance vs. Assonance

There are two close relatives of alliteration, both of which are often confused with each other and with alliteration itself. They are consonance and assonance. Here are quick descriptions of each:

• Consonance is the repetition of similar consonant sounds across several words. The repeated sound can occur at any point within the word, not just on first or stressed syllables. So, for example, in the sentence “ A truck full of unlucky ducks careened into the aqueduct,” the hard “k” consonant sound doesn’t just occur on stressed or first syllables, making this an example of consonance but not alliteration.

• Assonance is exactly the same as consonance, but with vowel sounds instead of consonant sounds. An example of assonance is the “oo” sound in this sentence: “The smooth balloon flew up and blew up when it hit the roof.” Note that in this example, because all of the repeated sounds occur on stressed syllables, this example is both assonance and alliteration.

Alliteration, then, is a specialized form of assonance or consonance in which the repeated sounds occur only on stressed syllables.

Alliteration Examples

Alliteration appears all over the place. It is used very often in lyric poetry, and appears regularly in novels, plays, and other literature. It’s also very common in more commercial writing, such as marketing taglines, brand names, and even in naming superheroes.

Alliteration Examples in Literature

Alliteration is common in poetry, as well as in literature ranging from from Shakespeare to Stephen King. Below are some examples.

Alliteration in the Prologue to Romeo and Juliet

This example from lines 5-6 of the Prologue of Romeo and Juliet has two sets of alliteration, one with “f” sounds and one with “l” sounds.

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life;

Alliteration in Robert Frost’s “Birches”

This example from the poem “birches” by Robert Frost includes an alliteratively intense repetition of “b” sounds in every line, and often multiple times per line.

I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Alliteration in John Keats’s “Ode to a Nightingale”

In these lines from stanza 7, lines 5-10 of John Keats’s famous “Ode to a Nightingale,” there are alliterations of both “s” and “f” sounds.

Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Alliteration in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities

The alliteration of “s” sounds in the example below comes from Part 1, Chapter 5 of Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities. The alliteration, which in each case has the sibilant “s” followed by a harder consonant (either a “p” or a “t”) creates a sound almost of something soft splashing against something hard, which is exactly what Dickens is describing here: blood hitting the hard surface of the street.

“The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there.”

Alliteration in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

In this sample from Part 1, Chapter 9 of her novel Beloved, Toni Morrison intertwines alliteration on the “d,” “l,” “b,” “p,” and “h” sounds. Notice how the “l” sound repeats throughout the entire passage and occurs between the alliteration of the other sounds, which is a good example of how alliterative words don’t always have to occur sequentially to qualify as alliteration.

The dark, dark liver – love it, love it and the beat and beating heart, love that too. More than eyes or feet. More than lungs that have yet to draw free air. More than your life-holding womb and your life-giving private parts, hear me now, love your heart.

Alliteration Examples in Marketing

Marketing copywriters often use alliteration because it can help make phrases and sentences fun to say and easy to remember, perfect for taglines, such as:

• “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline”
• “Snickers satisfies”
• “Be all that you can be, find your future in the Army”

Alliteration is also a tool that many companies use in their branding, so that their names roll off the tongue more easily and stick in your head. For example:

• Best Buy
• Canon Camera
• Krispy Kreme
• Kit Kat
• Bed, Bath, and Beyond

Alliteration Examples in Superheroes

The number of superheroes or supervillains whose names (super-names or alter ego names) are alliterative is frankly astounding. To name just a few:

• Bruce Banner
• Clark Kent
• Green Goblin
• J. Jonah Jameson
• Jessica Jones
• Lois Lane
• Silver Surfer
• Steven Strange
• Teen Titans
• The Fantastic Four
• Wade Wilson
• Wonder Woman

It makes sense when you think about it. Every superhero is like a brand, created by comic-book folks to sound cool and stick in your mind. (That’s also why characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are alliteratively named). Alliteration, you might say, is the real superhero.

Alliteration Examples in Song Lyrics

Just as poets use alliteration for its lyricism and beauty, songwriters in every genre from folk to rap use it to create stylistic effects in their lyrics.

Alliteration in “Hello” by Adele

I’ve forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet.

Alliteration in “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” by Bob Dylan

He not busy being born is busy dying.

Alliteration in “Rap God” by Eminem

So I wanna make sure, somewhere in this chicken scratch I
Scribble and doodle enough rhymes
To maybe try to help get some people through tough times
But I gotta keep a few punchlines
Just in case, ‘cause even you unsigned
Rappers are hungry looking at me like it’s lunchtime…

Alliteration in “Waiting on the World to Change” by John Mayer

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
It’s hard to beat the system
When we’re standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change

Alliteration in “All I Want” by Joni Mitchell

I want to be strong I want to laugh along
I want to belong to the living

The repeated “l” sound in this Joni Mitchell lyric is a good example of alliteration in which the repeated sound does not always occur on the first letter in each successive word. But notice that it does always occur on the stressed syllable, making this an example of alliteration and not just consonance.

Why Do Writers Use Alliteration?

Writers use alliteration, with its emphasis on sound and rhythm, for a variety of different reasons:

• To enhance the beauty of their writing
• To emphasize particular phrases or feelings
• To use the sounds they repeat (a soft “s” or a hard “t”, for instance) to mirror the ideas or events or feelings being described
• To make writing feel merry, musical, and mightily memorable.

Alliteration is especially popular in poetry, which is distinct in its emphasis on sound and rhythm. For example, take a look at the astonishing amount of alliteration in the final stanza of Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous poem, “The Raven”:

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!

The onslaught of alliteration on the “fl”, “s”, “p”, “d”, and “l” sounds makes the poem feel musical but also overwhelming and mesmerizing, which is precisely what Poe was going for in his poetic tale of a phantasmagorical raven that visits a grieving man who seems to be uncertain if he is awake or asleep.

Other Helpful Alliteration Resources

• The Wikipedia Page on Alliteration: A somewhat technical explanation, including helpful examples from fiction, poetry, and pop culture.
• The Dictionary Definition of Alliteration: Includes a bit on the etymology of alliteration (spoiler: it’s derived from the Medieval Latin word for “letter”).
• A Poet’s Guide to Alliterative Verse: Short and to the point. This is an example of a person who is a stickler about alliteration.
• Alliteration on YouTube
  • An impassioned rap performance that’s all about alliteration.
  • An explanation of alliteration and rhyme.

Alliteration Definition: Alliteration is the repetition of initial constant sounds of nearby words. It is a literary sound device used for emphasis and effect.

What Does Alliteration Mean?

What is the definition of alliteration? Alliteration only occurs when consonant (not vowel) sounds are repeated in words close to each other. These words may be within the same phrase, clause, or sentence, or they may occur on successive lines (as in poetry or lyrics).

Tongue twisters are a well-known use of alliteration.

Example

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

In this classic example of alliteration, the initial “p” sound creates the alliteration.

The sounds that create alliteration need to be the same consonant sound, but not necessarily the same letter.

Example

• Gnarly gnats need new necklaces.

Here, the “gn” creates an “n” sound which makes this sentence alliterative.

Alliteration Examples in Music

• “I said a hip, hop, a hippie to the hippie” from “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang (The “h” sound creates the alliteration.)

• “whisper words of wisdom” from “Let it Be” by The Beatles (The “w” sound creates the alliteration.)

• “I’m dancing on my own/ I make the moves up as I go” from “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift (The “m” sound creates alliteration.)

Examples in Popular Culture

• “I became 10-time, Tony Award-winning, tapping Texan Tommy Tune,” he said and laughed. “I’m into alliteration!” –USA Today

The Importance and Function of Alliteration

Writers use alliteration for emphasis and effect. They are trying to accomplish something by emphasizing a certain sound. This could be a particular point he is trying to make or he could be trying to create a catchy tune (as in song lyrics).

Like all literary devices, a writer should know how and why he is using alliteration. Typically, alliteration is used sparingly because it is meant for effect.

When a writer uses alliteration, he catches his audience’s attention and more focus is placed on those particular words. This is how he is able to make a certain point by incorporating alliteration.

Examples of Alliteration in Literature

We have covered alliteration in tongue twisters and music, but what about alliteration in a sentence? Here are some famous examples of alliteration in popular literature.

Alliteration Examples in Poetry

• “They click upon themselves/As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored/As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel” from “Birches” by Robert Frost (The hard “c” sound creates alliteration.)

In this example, poet Robert Frost utilizes alliteration combined with onomatopoeia to create sound emphasis.

• And the alliteration and cadences of the lines evoke the actual feeling of tumbling — “How heel over head was I hurled down.”-The New York Times

Alliteration Examples in Fiction

• “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” From The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (The “b” sound creates alliteration.)

In this example, Fitzgerald utilizes alliteration to create rhythm and to reflect the purpose of the sentence. The “b” sound actually creates a “beat” as in rowing.

Alliteration Examples in Shakespeare

• “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes” from Romeo and Juliet Act I Prologue (The “f” sound creates the alliteration.)

Shakespearean actors needed to memorize lines easily since they did not have written scripts. As a result, many of his lines not only rhyme, but also include alliterative phrases to make them digestible for both actor and audience.

Alliteration Examples for Kids

All of our examples thus far would work for kids to understand alliteration, but tongue twisters are an especially fun way to learn. Here are a few to show them.

• Betty Botter bought some butter
• She sells seashells by the seashore
• I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop
• How much wood could a woodchuck chuck; If a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Summary

What is alliteration? Alliteration is an effective literary device where consonant sounds are repeated in nearby words for emphasis or effect.

Not every word in the phrase needs to start with the same consonant sound to create alliteration, but there must be at least two words near each other for alliteration to be effective.

Contents

• 1 What Does Alliteration Mean?
• 2 Modern Examples of Alliteration
• 3 The Importance and Function of Alliteration
• 4 Examples of Alliteration in Literature
• 5 Summary

As a writer, it’s important to have many different tools in your toolbox. One of the most important tools is alliteration (sometimes also referred to as head rhyme).

Word alliteration is just as important for fiction and non-fiction writers as it is for poets. Despite this, many writers have never taken the time to master the art. Many writers, in fact, regularly ask themselves, “what is alliteration?”

By mastering the art of creating alliterative phrases, you can sharpen your writing in no time.

What is alliteration?

Alliteration refers to the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a short series at the beginning of two or more words or stressed syllables. The effect is to give a more lyrical and flowing quality to a writer’s prose.

When a word begins with the same consonant sound as other nearby words, a reader immediately takes notice. The use of a repeated consonant sound helps to make writing more memorable, even when words starting with a different letter are placed between the alliteration. In fact, a bit of space between alliterative word scan sometimes make them have more of an impact.

For example, children often grow up hearing and repeating the old tongue twister “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?” In this example, the initial sound of these consonants is repeated to make it difficult to say aloud. But it also has the effect of making the tongue-twister something that people are far likelier to remember into adulthood.

Examples of alliteration in fiction

Fiction is filled with many examples of writers using alliteration to create rhythm. A great example of alliteration is in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, where the Bard uses alliteration to create a more memorable introduction to the feud between Montagues and Capulets:

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes / A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life.

Just as alliteration can make the introduction to a story very memorable, it can also make endings memorable. Take, for example, this downright haunting example of alliteration from the end of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatbsy:

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Throughout literature, alliteration has helped captivate readers.

Why use alliteration in fiction?

The primary purpose of using alliteration in fiction is to create memorable lines that have a more musical effect. For instance, many remember Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” fondly thanks to its memorable use of alliteration. By using it skillfully yourself, you can give your writing the lyrical and flowing quality of a good song.

With that in mind, alliteration should be used sparingly in fiction. As our earlier alliteration examples indicate, many great writers have had immense success using it to create memorable beginnings, endings, and other passages. But if you rely on it too much, then it may cheapen the effect for your readers.

Using alliterative words to create memorable names

It’s an open secret that alliteration helps you create and draw attention to memorable names—that’s why so many business names rely on it. In literature, the repetition of consonant sounds in names can help make characters instantly recognizable.

For example, in the Harry Potter series, alliterative names like Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape are easy for readers (especially younger readers) to remember.

Comic books and movies based on comic books contain many great alliterative names, usually for a hero’s alter ego. Spider-Man, for example, is really Peter Parker, and Superman is really Clark Kent. The Superman stories in particular are filled with alliterative names, including Lois Lane, Lana Lang, and Lex Luthor!

Using alliteration to create a realistic fictional world

Sometimes writers hesitate to use alliteration in their stories because they worry it’ll make the story seem unrealistic. However, when used sparingly, it can actually make your literary world seem much more realistic.

For example, we already discussed how many business names in the real world use alliteration. Everything from Coca-Cola to Dunkin Donuts to PayPal relies on names with similar sounds in order to create a more memorable brand. Names in real life, too, are often alliterative, including Steven Spielberg, Barry Bonds, Marilyn Monroe, and so on.

By peppering in these kinds of alliterations, it makes your literary world feel more lived-in and relatable to readers. After all, two words with the same sound aren’t that uncommon. In fact, it’d probably be weirder if you somehow ended up with no alliterative names in your story!

It’s far rarer for someone to speak alliteratively in real life. Thus, we recommend using alliteration in dialogue and narration a bit more sparingly.

Examples of alliteration in poetry

While alliteration works well as a literary device in fiction, it really shines in poetry. In fact, you could argue that alliteration has historically been more of a poetic device than a literary device.

To that end, there are many great examples of alliteration in fiction and even more alliteration examples in poetry.

In Poe’s “The Raven,” alliteration dominates each line to great effect:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping.

Here, the use of alliteration enhances the initial rhyme scheme and makes each line more vivid, showing us Poe’s mastery of this particular poetic device.

Another classic example of alliteration in poetry comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Here, the writer alliterates across different lines rather than in the same lines, and this creates a sense of flow… very fitting for a story about a man trapped at sea aboard a haunted ship!

The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill,
Below the lighthouse top.
The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.
Higher and higher every day,
Till over the mast at noon—’
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast,
For he heard the loud bassoon.
The bride hath paced into the hall,
Red as a rose is she;
Nodding their heads before her goes
The merry minstrelsy.

In each example of alliteration, we see how it helps grab the audience’s attention almost immediately. Furthermore, this repetition of consonant sounds helps the writers keep the audience paying attention throughout the entirety of the poem.

Why use alliteration in poetry?

The primary reasons for using alliteration in poetry is that it sounds good, establishes mood, and highlights rhythm. Skillful use of alliteration often means the difference between a good poem and a great poem

Using alliteration to set the mood

There has always been a close connection between alliteration and mood. That’s because alliterating words have a different sound and feeling than non-alliterating words. For example, think of another of the classic childhood tongue-twisters: “Sally sells seashells by the seashore.” When read out loud, this poem is hard to say but easy to remember because the frequent s sounds create a simulation of the ocean waves gently washing to the shore.

Putting alliteration into different contexts helps to evoke different moods. In our earlier example, the excerpt from “The Raven” helps highlight the isolation the speaker feels as well as his growing obsession.

In Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade,” the writer uses a special form of alliteration involving the repetition of the same words. This helps to evoke the sheer horror of the speaker seeing nothing but fatal cannons all around him:

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered.

Here, the cadence of the repeated word “cannon” helps create a sense of dawning horror at the impending doom of so many soldiers.

Using alliteration to highlight rhythm

By adding alliteration to nearby words (not just successive words), you can more easily highlight your poem’s rhythm.

While some poets love free verse, most poets use some kind of rhythm to organize their poetry. However, since poetry is often read silently rather than read aloud, a reader might not immediately notice the rhythm you’re using.

That all changes with alliteration. From the initial sounds of your alliterative verse, readers will pay much closer attention to the poem. In this way, they’re more likely to both understand the rhythm as they read and to remember the poem long afterward. The use of alliteration can also help you create rhythm you might not otherwise have been able to create.

Avoiding cliché alliteration

As great as alliteration is, there is one downside: certain examples of alliteration have become both common and cliché.

For example, we often discuss how a trend well past its prime is “dead as a doornail.” We warn against comparing our own lives to others by saying “the grass is always greener on the other side.” We even encourage people to take control of their lives and situations by telling them to “take a tiger by its tail.”

Alliteration helps make these common examples memorable, but clichés will never help your writing stand out. To make the most of alliteration, you need to come up with more creative uses of this literary device.

The differences between alliterative sounds, assonant sounds, and consonant sounds

It’s easy to assume a writer wants to feature alliteration when you see neighboring words repeating either letters or syllables. However, the writer may instead be using assonance or consonance. If you wish to be both a stronger writer and reader, it’s important to know the difference between these terms.

What is an assonant sound?

We’ve discussed how alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds. Assonance, meanwhile, refers to the repetition of certain vowel sounds.

We can see an example of assonance in this line from Amy Lowell’s “In a Garden”:

The water fills the garden with its rushing.

Words like “fills,” “with,” “its,” and the -ing in “rushing” show a repeated vowel sound. Her use of vowel sounds in this poem helps her create some of the most memorable and soothing lines in literature.

What is consonant sound?

Consonance refers to the repetition of consonant sounds other than consonants at the beginning of words. To get a better idea of these differences, let’s look at some examples.

One of the more famous examples of consonance is these lines from “Mother to Son,” a poem by Langston Hughes:

“I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark.

Here, the poem repeats a non-initial consonant sound with the repeated use of “in” giving each line a more lyrical quality.

As with assonance, consonance is not restricted to the beginning of words like it is with alliteration is. Unlike alliteration, consonance does not necessarily involve words starting with the same letter.

How to effectively use alliteration

As you can tell, adding alliteration to your writing isn’t hard. But using alliteration to effectively enhance your writing can be much harder.

Fortunately, you can rely on more than our earlier examples of alliteration. Here are some simple tips:

1. Add alliteration after finishing a draft

When it comes to alliteration, it’s far easier for you to add it to your text after you’ve completed a first draft.

There are a few reasons for this. First, in your initial draft, you may want to focus more on fleshing out your characters, expanding your fictional world, and crafting an engaging beginning, middle, and end to your story. Alliteration is more of a stylistic flourish, and it’s easier to add this to what you have written once you have a rough draft under your belt.

2. Choose the right subject

Alliteration is very versatile—it can make certain passages seem more lighthearted in some cases and downright melancholic in other cases. Therefore, its effective use means choosing the right subject to use it on.

You should carefully consider which characters, places, or other thins get alliterative names. The last thing you want is a menacing character to have a lighthearted, alliterative name (and vice versa).

A bit of narrative alliteration can enhance the tension as a character prepares to solve a mystery. Furthermore, a bit of alliterative dialogue is a great way to memorably introduce a new character or even highlight their departure from your story.

3. Find the right words

Our next tip flows directly from the last. Sometimes, the words you choose to be alliterative should complement the mood you’re trying to create. For example, alliterative sibilance (where you start multiple words with an “s” consonant sound) can make dialogue sound whispered. Such alliteration can help any part of your poem or story stand out.

Other times, you may wish to use it to highlight words that are most relevant to either your characters or your story. In our earlier example, Tennyson repeats the word “cannon” to showcase the primary thing that our speaker and his fellow soldiers are worried about. The repitition serves to simulate the feeling of cannon balls firing and falling among the light brigade, making the poem feel more engaging.

4. Use alliteration sparingly

Our last bit of advice is something we’ve touched on before: no matter how you use alliteration, you should use it sparingly.

Alliteration is kind of like a special sauce you can add to enhance certain elements of your rhetoric. Great speakers use alliteration to enhance famous speeches, like when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said,

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

If he had used too much alliteration, the effect would have been much different. But using it to link words like “color,” “content,” and “character” grabs an audience’s attention while also highlighting one of the most important things he has to say.

Become a better writer by mastering alliteration

Alliteration is one of the most powerful tools in your writer’s toolbox. The more tools you have, the more you’ll be able to create, and the better your writing will be.

Chances are that alliteration is responsible for some of the poems and passages you remember very keenly. By adding it to your prose, you can create memorable content that stands the test of time.