Alliteration and Consonance

Literary Devices

Photo by Brooks Leibee on Unsplash

Alliteration and consonance are figures of speech that are used in both fiction and poetry, but my focus will be poetry.

Alliteration means repeating the first consonant of two or more words, usually in a row:  sable sky, limp and lanky, tough and tight.

Consonance repeats consonants inside of words:  sour disservice, trotting kitty, superficial and infantile fad.

This kind of repetition lends beauty and emotional power to your poetry (or prose).

A fantastic poem for studying alliteration and consonance is “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe. I will skip to the third and fourth stanzas so we can focus on the best examples, and I’ll bold them and italicize the phrases they’re in:

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven, 
   Went envying her and me— 
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know, 
   In this kingdom by the sea) 
That the wind came out of the cloud by night, 
   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. 

But our love it was stronger by far than the love 
   Of those who were older than we— 
   Of many far wiser than we— 
And neither the angels in Heaven above 
   Nor the demons down under the sea 
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul 
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. 

As you can see, Poe not only repeats consonants on the same line, but he also sometimes carries them over to the next line and continues. In this way, the emotional power of the poem builds, and the effect is beautiful but haunting. Poe especially liked the letter “L” because he thought it was the most beautiful but haunting sound. If you read more of his poetry, you’ll find a great deal of “L” alliteration and consonance.

Working with alliteration and consonance is a great way to expand your poetic touch.