Using Alliteration to Enhance Emotion in Poetry

Poetry begs for emotion, in the wording by the poet and in the mind of the reader. Yet many wonder how to create emotion in their writing. One way to enhance emotion is to use poetic devices.

Poetic devices, when used with imaginative language, help create that needed emotion in poetry. Let's look at alliteration and see how its usage can aid create emotion.

"What in the world is alliteration?" the student of poetry asks. "It sounds like something that would make me itch or something."

Not at all, but it might tickle your ears. Alliteration, generally, is the repetition of a beginning sound (a constanant beginning sound usually that happens close sufficient to every other to catch the eye and ear.

Small boy blue, come blow your horn from Mother Goose is an superb instance of alliteration, all these beautiful b's close with each other.

"Fine and dandy," the student asks, "Yet exactly where is any emotion in that?"

Just give me time, and I will get there. Ish, some individuals are so impatient.

Now if we take some alliteration and mix it with each other with language portraying the mood or emotion we want, voila!

Like gaudily wrapped gifts
gathering dust in the back of my thoughts,
memories tease me mercilessly.

The lines above invoke a sense of playfulness, perhaps a bit of happiness, by utilizing the words gaudily wrapped gifts and tease. Yet they also leave a lingering sense of sadness with the words gathering dust. Each feelings, though, are strengthened and joined with the use of alliteration: gaudily, gifts, gathering; thoughts, memories, me, mercilessly.

Let's appear at some other examples.

Dull, drab day, you dump piles
Of sorrow on seemingly somnolent life.

The emotion produced by these two lines is depression or sadness. Once more the alliteration tends to make the emotion stronger.

"Okay, I believe I am starting to get the image," the student admits.

Then let's appear at 1 much more instance, shall we?

Gaily, giggling girls cluster with each other
as if birds tweetering on branches of trees.

Here we have happiness displaying via the alliteration.

Alliteration is just A single technique, 1 device, that can be utilized to improve emotion in our writing. We can read, understand, and practice till we have enhanced that imagery.

Vivian Gilbert Zabel taught English, composition, and inventive writing for twenty-5 years, honing her expertise as she studied and taught. She is a author on Writers ( http://www.Writing.Com/ ), and her portfolio is http://www.Writing.Com/authors/vzabel. Her books, Hidden Lies and Other Stories and Walking the Earth, can be identified via Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.