Alliteration, << uh `liht` uh RAY shuhn, >> occurs when the same sound starts succeeding accented syllables. In “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,” for example, alliteration is created by the occurrence of a p sound at the beginning of every accented syllable. The first sentence of this paragraph has alliteration of s sounds. Old English poetry had no rhyme, but was held together by a pattern of alliteration. Alliteration, like rhyme, assonance, and consonance, is a device of repetition that helps express the feelings and ideas of a poem.
