What is Alliteration?
Words in succession that all start with the same letter or sound.
Examples
- Long literary lectionary
- Pistol-packing pirates
- She sells seashells at the seashore
Alliteration in Literature
- Focuses attention
- Repeating a b or p sound can elicit a rhythm, as in “bombs bursting in air” from The Star Spangled Banner.
Examples
- “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” — The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe
- “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes; a pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life.” — Romeo and Juliet
- “The most corrected copies are commonly the least correct.” — Francis Bacon