Fellows 1

Elements of Alliterative Verse

When writing and reading alliterative verse, there are several

components that should be considered.

1. Alliteration is the repetition of initial sounds of stressed syllables.

Alliteration isn’t just the repetition of initial sounds of words; it’s the
repetition of initial sounds of stressed syllables.

2. Alliterative verse uses alliteration for primary organization.

Granted, this is a fairly obvious statement. However, there are two main
forms of verse: free verse and formal verse. Formal verse requires that
poems be written within a pattern of some sort--it is clearly affected by
rhyme, rhythm, metre, and/or form. Free verse, however, is written
without proper rules, and alliterative verse is somewhat of a cross
between the free and formal. It has no rhyme scheme--in fact, rhyming is
discouraged--and is written in stress metre, not poetic feet. There are
usually four stresses per line--for instance, “WEIGHing their OPtions, and
WINNowing their ODDS”--but the number of syllables can vary.

3. Lines of alliterative verse are usually divided by a strong caesura

(pause) between the second and third syllables.

For instance, in the following two lines of “Deor’s Lament,” the first line
has ten syllables and the second line has eleven syllables, but each line
has only four stressed syllables.
Hero unflinching, enduring distress;
Had for companionship heart-break and longing,
Note that the caesuras in this case are marked with white space,
indicating two half-lines.
 Fellows 2

4. Enjambment often occurs in alliterative verse.

Enjambment--when the sense runs on from one line to another--occurs

often in alliterative verse, although it occurs often in other forms of
poetry, as well. See the following example from Ezra Pound’s translation
of The Seafarer, in which the general idea flows between lines.
Storms, on the stone-cliffs beaten, fell on the stern
In icy feathers; full ofte the eagle screamed
With spray on his pinion.

List of References

Deane, Paul. “Part II: The Lay of the Land.” Forgotten Ground Regained.
2000. 25 Dec 2008 <http://alliteration.net/field2.htm>.

Dumler, Gloria. “Alliterative Verse.” English 5A: Survey of English

Literature. 25 Dec 2008 <http://www2.bakersfieldcollege.edu/gdumler/
English%205A/Beowulf/alliterative_verse_project.htm>.

Lyrich, Jack. “Enjambment.” Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Terms.

26 Dec 2008 <http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Terms/
enjambment.html>.

Pound, Ezra. “The Seafarer.” Personae: The Shorter Poems of Ezra Pound.
Ed. Lea Baechler and A. Walton Litz. New York: New Directions, 1990.
60-63.