How to Write Alliteration Poems

Alliteration is the repetition of two or more words with the same sound for each word. It's a powerful poetic technique that, when used correctly, can add a little spice to a poem. Usually to entertain, alliteration isn't so hard, but can be professionally done to make the poem flow, and cleverly written.

Edit Sample Poems

Sample Alliterative Poem

Sample Alliterative Quatrain

Edit Steps

Part 1: Deciding on the Tone of the Poem

Brainstorm the poem you want to write. This means thinking of what your poem is about. You can write down a general idea first. Then make it more specific, or make a brainstorming cloud/mind map, or you could even make a storyboard depending on the poem length. An alliteration poem can be serious or silly. Take these two examples:
- Silly: "She sells seashells by the seashore"
- Serious: "I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet" (a line of "Acquainted with the Night" by Robert Frost)

Part 2: Choosing Your Alliteration

Figure out what letter you want to use for the alliteration part. You can use any letter you want, but it's best to choose letters that have lots of words that start with them.

Refer the dictionary for some words that start with that letter. Write down a list of words to get you started. Make sure to get a good mix of nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. that you can refer to while you're writing your poem. You could also think of all of your surroundings starting with the same letter/sound that you're looking for.

Part 3: Writing the Alliteration Poem

Begin with simple words. It's a good idea to start with a subject/noun, like a person, place or thing.
- For example: Alison.

Add a verb.
- For example: Alison admired.

Make a sentence out of the words chosen. Add more words that start with that letter.
- For example: Alison always admired Amy's angelic a capella.

Continue adding more lines to your poem. These lines can continue to be written in the letter you started in, or it can be switched to a new letter. For example:
- Alison always admired Amy's angelic a capella.
  
  She sang sad songs on Saturdays.

Add some poetic words. Simple words are great because they're easy to use; however, they can make your poem a tad too general and therefore dull. To spice up your poem, try finding more poetic or descriptive words. As well, think of who you want your audience to be, and who will really read it; for example, if your poem will be read by fifth-graders, it's probably not a good idea to throw in vocabulary they're not yet familiar with (or it'll just be confusing).
- For example, instead of saying "sad" you could say "somber". Look up synonyms of basic words to find more poetic words to use, but this all depends on who your audience is.
  - Alison always admired Amy's angelic a capella.
    
    She sang somber songs on Saturdays.