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Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica: An Exploration of Alliteration
How the repetition of vowel sounds can shape a poem
Originally published on Substack.
Besides the ineffability of it all, music may be my favorite part of poetry. One craft technique you can use to create music or enhance the sonic impact of a poem is alliteration.
From Oxford Languages, “alliteration” is defined as the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning (or stressed syllable) of adjacent or closely connected words. The repeated sound can be a vowel or consonant sound to qualify as alliteration.
Besides being weirdly fun for anyone who likes to play with words — alliteration is really useful!
Why is alliteration an important technique?
Alliteration — like its sibling, rhyme — is a form of repetition.
Repetition creates rhythm.
And rhythm! Rhythm is one of the main elements of a poem, impacting the sound, the musicality, the tone, the pacing, and more.
Let’s look at some examples.
