Sound & rhythm

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words.

Alliteration links words through repeated opening sounds, creating rhythm, emphasis, and musicality. Writers use it to make phrases memorable, to set a mood, or to draw attention to key ideas. It is common in poetry, but prose writers use it for sonic effect as well.

Example

Poe’s lines lean on alliteration, as in “weak and weary,” to deepen the poem’s hypnotic, mournful music.

The Raven · Edgar Allan Poe

Related terms

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