About literary term ALLITERATION part 1

Alliteration is the repetition of speech sounds in a sequence of nearby words ;the term is usually applied only to consonants ,and only when the recurrent sound occurs in a conspicuous position at the beginning of a word or of a stressed syllable within a word .

In old English alliterative metre, alliteration is the organising device of the verse line: each line is divided into two half- lines of two stresses by a decisive pause or caesura, and at least one, and usually both ,of the two stressed words in the first half -line alliterates with the first stressed word of the second half line.

In later English versification ,however ,alliteration is used only for a special stylistic effects, such as to reinforce the meaning ,to link related words, or to provide tone colour.