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Why Do Poets Use Alliteration?
Poets use alliteration for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it’s a potent tool to establish rhythm within the lines of a poem, especially in free verse. This rhythmic quality can elevate a poem from mere words to a musical composition of emotions. Additionally, alliteration is employed to draw the reader’s attention to specific images, painting vivid mental pictures that resonate.
Best Poems with Alliteration
Let’s explore some remarkable poems that employ alliteration to various effects, taking us on an auditory journey through their artistry.
- “Icarus” by Edward Field
- “The Colossus” by Sylvia Plath
- “Astrophobos” by H. P. Lovecraft
- “The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe
- “By night we linger’d on the lawn” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
- “The Armadillo” by Elizabeth Bishop
- “Sick” by Shel Silverstein
- “Preference” by Charlotte Brontë
- “Birches” by Robert Frost
- “Winter Snow” by Sara Teasdale
- “The Death Bed” by Siegfried Sassoon
- “Mrs. Midas” by Carol Ann Duffy
- “Beowulf” by Anglo-Saxon Literature
- “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
- “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
1. “Icarus” by Edward Field
In “Icarus,” Edward Field reimagines the myth of Icarus in a contemporary context. He skillfully utilizes alliteration to enhance the soundscape of the poem:
Only the feathers floating around the hat
Showed that anything more spectacular had occurred.
Here, Field employs the “f” sound twice in “feathers floating” and the “s” sound in “Showed” and “spectacular,” creating a symphony of sounds within the lines.
2. “The Colossus” by Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath’s “The Colossus” poignantly depicts her relationship with her father using alliteration:
Scaling little ladders with glue pots and pails of lysol
I crawl like an ant in mourning
Over the weedy acres of your brow.
Plath’s use of alliteration with “little ladders” and “pots and pails” conjures vivid imagery, engaging readers in her emotional journey.
3. “Astrophobos” by H. P. Lovecraft
H.P. Lovecraft’s “Astrophobos” blends allusion and mythological imagery, accompanied by alliteration:
Mystic waves of beauty blended
With the gorgeous golden rays;
Phantasies of bliss descended In a myrrh’d Elysian haze.
Lovecraft’s choice of alliteration with “beauty blended,” “gorgeous golden,” “lyre-born,” and “Lydian lays” immerses readers in a world of cosmic wonder.
4. “The Bells” by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Bells” is a masterpiece of alliteration, portraying the sounds and symbolism of bells:
Hear the sledges with the bells— Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night!
Poe’s use of the “b” sound in “bells” and “tinkle” resonates throughout the poem, creating a mesmerizing auditory experience.
5. “By night we linger’d on the lawn” by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “By night we linger’d on the lawn” uses alliteration to capture the tranquility of the moment:
And calm that let the tapers burn
Unwavering: not a cricket chirr’d:
The brook alone far-off was heard,
And on the board the fluttering urn.
Tennyson’s gentle alliteration with “calm,” “cricket,” and “chirr’d” adds a serene quality to the poem.
6. “The Armadillo” by Elizabeth Bishop
In “The Armadillo,” Elizabeth Bishop creates a sense of foreboding with alliteration:
Too pretty, dreamlike mimicry!
O falling fire and piercing cry and panic, and a weak mailed fist clenched ignorant against the sky!
Bishop’s use of alliteration with “falling fire,” “piercing,” and “panic” adds a haunting quality to this enigmatic piece.
7. “Sick” by Shel Silverstein
Shel Silverstein’s “Sick” is a delightful example of alliteration, designed to captivate young readers:
My hip hurts when I move my chin,
My belly button’s caving in,
My back is wrenched, my ankle’s sprained,
My ‘pendix pains each time it rains.
Silverstein’s playful alliteration in this children’s poem is designed to entertain and engage young minds.
8. “Preference” by Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë’s “Preference” employs alliteration to convey complex emotions:
Not in scorn do I reprove thee,
Not in pride thy vows I waive,
But, believe, I could not love thee, Wert thou prince, and I a slave.
Brontë’s use of alliteration with “pride,” “prince,” “passion,” and “perfidy” adds a layer of intensity to this poignant poem.
9. “Birches” by Robert Frost
Robert Frost’s “Birches” is a masterclass in alliteration:
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust.
Frost’s alliteration with “cracks” and “crazes” adds a tactile quality to the poem, immersing readers in the sensory experience.
10. “Winter Snow” by Sara Teasdale
Sara Teasdale’s “Winter Snow” creates a serene atmosphere with alliteration:
From windows in my father’s house,
Dreaming my dreams on winter nights,
I watched Orion as a girl Above another city’s lights.
Teasdale’s use of alliteration with “Dreaming” and “dreams” enhances the poem’s rhythmic quality, evoking the stillness of a winter’s night.
11. “The Death Bed” by Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon’s “The Death Bed” uses alliteration to portray the suffering and eventual peace of a wounded soldier:
Water—calm, sliding green above the weir;
Water—a sky-lit alley for his boat,
Bird-voiced, and bordered with reflected flowers
And shaken hues of summer: drifting down,
He dipped contented oars, and sighed, and slept.
Sassoon’s alliteration weaves a poignant narrative, echoing the soldier’s journey from agony to tranquility.
12. “Mrs. Midas” by Carol Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy’s “Mrs. Midas” showcases her creative use of alliteration:
He toyed with his spoon, then mine, then with the knives, the forks.
He asked where was the wine.
I poured with a shaking hand, a fragrant, bone-dry white from Italy, then watched as he picked up the glass, goblet, golden chalice, drank.
Duffy’s alliteration adds a touch of magic to the poem, enhancing its whimsical quality.
13. “Beowulf” by Anglo-Saxon Literature
This epic masterpiece from Anglo-Saxon literature is the tale of the hero Beowulf and his encounters with monstrous adversaries. It is renowned for its extensive use of alliteration, resonating with phrases like “Hrothgar’s hall,” “Grendel’s grip,” “sea-wolf’s slaughter,” and “dragon’s den.”
14. “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
“Jabberwocky,” a whimsical addition to “Alice in Wonderland,” exemplifies Lewis Carroll’s linguistic inventiveness. Alliteration takes center stage with phrases such as “slithy toves,” “borogoves,” “frumious Bandersnatch,” and “vorpal blade,” crafting a fantastical and playful ambiance.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”…
15. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
This emotionally charged villanelle passionately implores the poet’s dying father to defy the inevitability of death. The poem harnesses alliteration to enhance its resonance with phrases like “good night,” “burn and rave,” “wise men,” and “wild men.”
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.…