Alliteration is a literary device that involves the repetition of the same initial consonant sounds in two or more words close together. It creates a rhythmic and musical effect in writing, especially in poetry.
At its finest, alliteration reproduces the sound of whatever feeling or mood that it tries to get across. At other times, it is simply pleasant to read and hear. Let's take a look at an example.
Noyes, "The Highwayman"(1907):
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
The poem uses alliteration to achieve several effects. The repetition of the "w" sound evokes the sound of the wind that is being described. The other uses of alliteration such as "ghostly galleon" is simply a delicious mix of impressive imagery and sonorous effects. However, Noyes also does more than use alliteration for pleasant effects. He matches sound with meaning in the following stanza:
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard.
He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred.
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord’s daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
The first line uses a mixture of alliteration and onomatopoeia to recreate the sound of a horseman riding loudly over cobblestones. You can hear the iron-shoed hooves of the horse clanging against the cobbles from reading the line alone. The third line uses repetition of the "w" sound to imitate the sound of the whistling being described.
In this article, I discuss what alliteration is and its effects. I also use examples of the device being used in the BBC series Wolfhall by King Henry VIII.
Why do writers use alliteration?
Writers use the rhetorical device for several reasons. They are as follows:
1. To create a pleasing rhythm or musicality that makes the text more engaging.
2. To match sound with meaning. For example, the repetition of initial "s" sounds gives the impression of deception as it is associated with the hissing sound of a snake.
3. It adds emotional depth and texture. For instance, soft consonants like "l" can evoke a calm or soothing tone, while harsher sounds like "k" and "t" might suggest tension or urgency.
Besides these reasons, alliteration can also heighten the imagery within a text. The repetition of sounds reflects the thematic elements in a work of literature. This results in the overall sensory experience for the reader being heightened. Let's look at a brief example of this in a poem by Derek Walcott, "XIV." We need only provide the first four lines of the poem here:
With the frenzy of an old snake shedding its skin,
the speckled road, scored with ruts, smelling of mold,
twisted on itself and reentered the forest
where the dasheen leaves thicken and folk stories begin.
The first four lines of the poem use alliteration to create an atmosphere of wonder and excitement. The poet is describing a childhood trip alongside his twin brother to visit an old relative who lives in the countryside and tells them scary and exciting folklore.
Walcott describes the road to her home as a "snake shedding its skin." The "s" sounds emphasize the snake metaphor. After all, the "s" sounds creates sibilance that resembles the hissing of a snake. Such alliteration works together with initial consonance to also create a sense of excitement. This is seen in the use of the word "frenzy," where the "z" sound is consonance that reproduces the "s" sound.
The word frenzy reflects the sense of fun and excitement of listening to scary stories that boys of that age would feel. The shedding of skin reflects the transformation or transition from an urban environment to a forest or rural environment. In the following section, we are going to look at numerous examples of alliteration being used.
Alliteration in Shakespeare
William Shakespeare, one of history’s greatest playwrights and poets, frequently employed the device to enrich his works. One of the most famous examples is included in the first four lines of "Sonnet 30" (1609):
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
In the first four lines of the poem, Shakespeare uses a form of alliteration known as sibilance. This is the repetition of the "s" sound at the beginning of words that are close to each other. The effect is a pleasant musicality. In addition, we have sound blending with sense.
The soft "s" sound reproduces the effect of soft whispering like someone in conversation with their own thoughts, as suggested by the first line. The sibilance here is not restricted to just initial consonants. It is repeated in the beginning and ending of words. For example, the most effective example of sibilance in the second line occurs with the word "remembrance."
We can go further with our interpretation. Sibilance is most often associated with the sound that snakes make. Snakes are also associated with trickery and deceit. This would be in line with the theme of the poem.
The poem focuses on the idea that we fool ourselves or do ourselves harm by thinking of what we lack compared to others. Instead, we should focus on the value of faithful and true friendship. Lastly, the repetition of "w" sounds in the fourth line emphasizes the sadness and tears of regret and jealousy. The long vowel sounds or assonance in "old," "woe," "wail," and "waste" together with alliteration also work to reproduce the effect of "wailing" or crying.
Below are more examples of the device being used in the works of Shakespeare:
1. “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes”– Romeo and Juliet, Prologue
This line from the prologue is somewhat difficult to pronounce because of the repeated "f" sounds. It is an example of sound echoing sense, as the difficulty in pronunciation reflects the strife and fighting between the two combating families.
2. “Fair is foul, and foul is fair”– Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 1.
The witches’ chant is filled with alliteration, adding an eerie, rhythmic quality to their prophecy. It also reads like they are having villainous fun with the song, like the cartoonish Disney bad guys that they are portrayed as.
3. “How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night”– Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2
The soft “s” sounds create a sense of romance and tenderness. It also reproduces the sound effects of lovers quietly whispering to each other. This device is not simply something used to ornament writing. It works best when it contributes to the meaning of the text. When carrying out rhetorical and literary analysis, always focus on that aspect.
Thomas Hardy's "The Voice"
"The Voice" (1912) by Thomas Hardy is a good example of this figure of speech being used to match sound with meaning. "The Voice" is a poem about the poet hearing the voice of a woman he once loved, and who has passed away, in the sound of the wind blowing over the grass.
I include the last two stanzas of the poem here:
Or is it only the breeze, in its listlessness
Travelling across the wet mead to me here,
You being ever dissolved to wan wistlessness,
Heard no more again far or near?
Thus I; faltering forward,
Leaves around me falling,
Wind oozing thin through the thorn from norward,
And the woman calling.
Initial consonant sounds are used in combination with general consonance and assonance throughout these two stanzas. There is assonance and consonance in the line "Or is it only the breeze, in its listlessness." The long vowel "e" sounds and the consonant "s" sounds combine to reproduce the effect of wind rushing through leaves and grass.
Examples of alliteration are also seen in the phrases "wet mead to me here" and "wan wistlessness." In "wan wistlessness," again we see the device combined with consonance to repeat the sound of wind through trees.
The alliteration and consonance used by Hardy reach the heights of their effects in the last stanza. The poet works with "th" and "f" sounds to reproduce the sense of difficulty of moving forward from his past sorrow. The caesura, that is, hard pause after "Thus I," also adds to the effect of falling and being impeded from moving forward.
Percy Shelley, "Ozymandias" (1818)
Ozymandias is a sonnet written by the famous English poet in 1818 that makes quite effective use of alliteration. Let's take a look at the poem in full to examine how it does this:
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
There is a lot more going on in this poem besides alliteration. The poem describes how the art of humble artists can long outlast the work of tyrants. However, it uses the device to create "atmosphere for the poem. We are transported to a desert scene dominated by sand.
The scene is emphasized with sibilance, the constant repetition of "s" sounds in Lines 2-4. However, the more effective uses of the figure of speech occur in Lines 5, 13, and 14. In Line 5, we have "sneer of cold command." This line aptly describes the manner in which a tyrant would talk and give orders. In short, it uses alliteration to recreate the chilling effect of a tyrant giving commands to subordinates.
In Lines 13 and 14, "boundless and bare" and "lone and level" use the figure of speech to show just how empty and meaningless the power of Ozymandias has become. The all-powerful tyrant who thought his legacy would last forever now rules over a vast kingdom of empty sand.
How King Henry uses alliteration in Wolf Hall
Alliteration, like most other literary devices, does not work by itself. It works best when used in conjunction with other literary devices. A good example of this is the following scene from the BBC series Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (2024). It is a historical drama about King Henry VIII, played by Damina Lewis. King Henry VIII famously had a habit of chopping off the necks of his wives and counselors.
In the following clip, King Henry mocks the idea of agreeing to get rid of one of his chief counselors, Lord Cromwell, in response to an uprising in Lincolnshire, beginning 0:40, forty seconds into the video:
And by God I am offended too. I take it ill to be instructed by the folk of Lincolnshire, one of the most brute and beastly shires in all the realm. How do they presume to dictate which men I keep about me? And who would advise me when Lord Cromwell is put down? Will these rebels do it? Colin Clump and Peter Pisspidle and Old Grandpa Gaphead and his goat. Let them remember this: When I choose a humble man for my counselor, he is no more humble. I made my Minister, and by God, I will maintain him. If I say Cromwell is a lord, then he is a Lord. And if I say Cromwell's heirs will follow me and rule England, then by God they will do it.
King Henry pours sarcastic scorn at the rebels' demand for Cromwell's head. He uses the figure of speech to describe Lincolnshire as "one of the most brute and beastly shires in all the realm." The rebels are mocked as ignorant peasants with names like Colin Clump, Peter Pisspiddle, and Old Grandpa Gaphead and his goat.
The initial consonant sounds as used here are laced with sarcastic humor as well as other literary devices. The king uses chiasmus with the phrase: "When I choose a humble man for my counselor, he is no more humble." There is also anaphora in the two successive sentences that begin "If I say Cromwell . . ."
The overall effect of alliteration and other rhetorical devices being used here is to emphasize the unquestioned power of the king. Mockery is heaped on the heads of those who presume they have the right to decide the men that the king keeps about him. Colin Clump suggests a clump of dirt or clod, a word that is typically used to describe a stupid person.
Peter Pisspiddle suggests someone who smells of pee. In short, a person who is not mature enough to not pee on himself. Grandpa Gaphead and his goat suggest a loud and talkative old man who talks without sense.
There is also initial consonance in the phrase "I made my Minister, and by God, I will maintain him." The alliteration used here in combination with chiasmus in particular shows that the king has the power to make and break men. This is relevant as Cromwell would eventually have his neck lopped off by the same king who made him a lord.
We also this later in the scene when Cromwell confronts Thomas Hart, Lord of Norfolk. The king does not trust Hart and strips him of any responsibility and authority to take part in crushing the rebellion. However, the unquestioned power of the king is seen in his hyperbolic exclamation that the heirs of Cromwell, a man from a humble background, would inherit the English throne.
How EminentEdit helps with your literary analysis
EminentEdit provides editing and commentary on literary analysis essays to ensure that you get proper practice and models for writing rhetorical analyses.
Our editing, proofreading, and commentary services are based on our deep and extensive familiarity with the standards and conventions of literary analyses. We know exactly how to edit your work to strike the balance between personal insight and literary conventions.
EminentEdit provides editing and proofreading services that are:
More importantly, we are adaptable to your specific needs. | Get in touch with one of our representatives for help in editing your manuscript We know what you want to say. We help you say it better. |
EminentEdit’s proofreading and editing services for rhetorical analysis include:
Editing for tone of voice
Critiquing your thesis statements
Substantive editing to improve the quality of your writing on a sentence level
Proofreading to make sure your writing is grammatically correct with proper spelling and punctuation
Commentary to point out areas of improvement
Do you need help in editing and proofreading your rhetorical or literary essay? Contact us today: CONTACT AN EMINENTEDIT REPRESENTATIVE
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, November 17). What Is Alliteration | Definition & Examples. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/what-is-alliteration |
Comments