Alliteration is one of those skills that’s both fun and engaging. Alliteration poems use words with the same beginning sound. Think: The frisky fawn frolicked in the fresh foliage.
Why is alliteration used in poems?
Alliteration creates mood and tone. A line that’s peppered with Ps will sound and feel much different than a line that’s littered with Ls. Alliteration also helps words roll off the tongue and grabs the reader’s attention.
For younger students, alliteration adds repetition and can help them focus on beginning sounds. In particular, for children who are learning their ABCs, alliteration poems help them focus on one letter and sound at a time.
For older students, alliteration adds to the cadence and sound of a poem. Adding alliteration can either make the poem easier or more difficult to read, depending on how the author uses it.
Here are alliteration poems to use with students from preschool through high school.
Alliteration Poems for Preschool Students
For very young students, nursery rhymes provide a nice dose of alliteration. These nursery rhymes can be used for chanting at morning meeting, reinforcing individual letters (looking at you Peter Piper!), or to teach the tool of alliteration to older students.
1. Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers by Mother Goose
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers …”
2. Hickory, Dickory, Dock by Mother Goose
“Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock …”
3. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep by Mother Goose
“Baa, baa, black sheep
Have you any wool?”
4. Three Gray Geese by Mother Goose
“Three gray geese
In a green field grazing,
Gray were the geese
And green was the grazing.”
5. Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling by Mother Goose
“Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John,
Went to bed with his trousers on …”
6. Betty Botter’s Butter by Mother Goose
“Betty Botter bought a bit of butter …”
7. Pat-a-Cake by Mother Goose
“Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man,
Bake me a cake, as fast as you can …”
8. A Was an Apple Pie by Mother Goose
In this nursery rhyme, the text uses alliteration and the ABCs to describe what each letter did to the pie. “B bit it,” “C cut it,” and so on.
9. Robert Rowley by Mother Goose
“Robert Rowley rolled a round roll ’round …”
Alliteration ABC Poems
As students learn the alphabet, ABC poems can help them remember words that start with each letter and reinforce the sounds each letter makes. Use these poems to teach each letter from A to Z.
10. Letter A poem
“An ant was in an alley
On an autumn day …”
11. Letter B poem
“Bubba’s best buddy was Bingo the Bear.”
12. Letter C poem
“C is for cats, and crayons, and cakes!”
13. Letter D poem
A dragon dunking doughnuts.
14. Letter E poem by Edward Lear
“E was once a little eel …”
15. Letter F poem
Fish, frogs, and fairies.
16. Letter G poem
Goats at the gate.
17. Letter H poem
Henry and Hatty on a hill.
18. Letter I poem
Icky insects on ice cream.
19. Letter J poem
A poem in a jar of jelly beans.
20. Letter K poem
Kangaroos, kites, and keys.
21. Letter L poem
A lion licking lollipops.
22. Letter M: The Muffin Man
“Do you know the muffin man?”
23. Letter N poem
Such a nice, necklaced newt.
24. Letter O poem
An orange octopus eating olives.
25. Letter P poem
“Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her …”
26. Letter Q poem
Queens and quails under quilts.
27. Letter R poem
“Row, row, row your boat …”
28. Letter S poem
“Silly Sally shooed seven silly sheep.”
29. Letter T poem
Ten tiny turtles.
30. Letter U poem
“My uncle’s ukulele
goes unka, plunka, doo.”
31. Letter V poem
“Victor eats his vegetables.”
32. Letter W poem
Willy Worm likes to wiggle.
33. Letter X poem
“X was once a great king Xerxes …”
34. Letter Y poem
“Y is for yak I see in my yard.”
35. Letter Z poem
Z is for zoom.
Alliteration Poems for Young Readers
These poems are a great way to introduce students to poetry and alliteration. They’re silly, and the alliteration adds to the meaning and fun.
36. Crazy Words by Alan Loren
“People play poker in a place called Pop’s
While tigers go tramping on tree tops …”
37. The Gnome, the Gnat, and the Gnu by Shel Silverstein
Leave it to Shel Silverstein to write an alliteration poem with the sound of “gn.”
38. She Sells Seashells by Terry Sullivan
“She sells seashells by the seashore,
The shells she sells are seashells, I’m sure.”
39. Eat Wisely by Alan Loren
“Franks and fries, and French fondue
Beans and burgers and biscuits too …”
40. Slithery, Slidery, Scaly Old Snake by Denise Rodgers
“Slithery, slidery, scaly old snake,
surely your body must be a mistake.”
41. Gary the Gorgeous Goat Sprains His Armpit on National High-Five Day by Ms. Petty’s Third Grade Class
Use this poem to show your students how another elementary grade class approached alliteration.
42. The Football Game by Alan Loren
“Blitz and blocking, bump-and-run
Drive and drop kick, the other team’s done …”
43. Spoiled Brat by Shel Silverstein
Read this poem and imagine all the other alliterative things a spoiled brat could do.
44. The Mess by Alan Loren
“Bubbly baby Bradley
And Annie’s sister Abby …”
45. In a Whispering Garden by Thomas Hardy
“That whisper takes the voice.
Of a Spirit, speaking to me,
Close, but invisible …”
46. A to G Alliteration by Daniela and Angie
“Angry apes acting
Beautiful Barbra barking …”
47. L to S Alliteration by Zarek
“Laughing lions lie
Mad monkey mutter …”
48. Spinning Dry by Denise Rogers
“I’d roll all around with a fluttering flopping,
just floating and turning with no thought of stopping.”
49. Alphabet Alliteration by Author Unknown
“Awesome Allie ate apples
Brilliant Babies buy bananas …”
50. Slippery Sloppery by David Williams
“A slippery sloppery slipping snail
Slithered, slimed, and slid on the floor …”
51. Under the Laden Clouds by Eve Roper
“Listen to the Ladybug laugh;
Lingers and crawls up the giraffe’s
Long legs and neck, holding a staff.”
52. Here We Go Up, Up, Up
A rhyme with alliteration and repetition that’s all about movement:
“Here we go up, up, up,
Here we go down, down, down-y …”
53. Mari-Lou’s Ride by Shel Silverstein
“The swing swang
The ropes snapped
The seat sailed
And she flew.”
54. Picture Puzzle Piece by Shel Silverstein
The tale and adventures of one picture puzzle piece.
55. Standing Is Stupid by Shel Silverstein
“Standing is stupid,
Crawling’s a curse …”
56. Betty’s Room by Denise Rogers
“There is no clutter cluttered up
more closely, I presume,
than the clutter clustered clingingly
in my friend Betty’s room.”
57. Lighthouse by Denise Rogers
Find multiple examples of alliteration in this poem.
58. Bleezer’s Ice Cream by Jack Prelutsky
This is the quintessential alliteration poem, with a long list of alliterative ice cream flavors.
Get it: Classroom activity using Bleezer’s Ice Cream
59. Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens by Jack Prelutsky
An alliterative list of all the things a chicken can do in a dream.
Alliteration Poems for Older Students
Older students are familiar with alliteration and are ready to find it in poetry from pop rock to Shakespeare. Use these poems and song lyrics to teach and reinforce the purpose of alliteration in poetry.
60. Bad Blood by Taylor Swift
Belt it out!
61. The Letter E Poem by Jim Yerman
This letter poem is actually written for older students who can appreciate the humor.
62. Astrophobos by H.P. Lovecraft
“Mystic waves of beauty blended
With the gorgeous golden rays …”
63. The Bells by Edgar Allan Poe
“Hear the sledges with the bells—
Silver bells!”
Get more Edgar Allan Poe poems and printables.
64. maggie and millie and molly and may by E. E. Cummings
A fun little poem about four alliterative friends.
65. Much Madness Is Divinist Sense by Emily Dickinson
“Much Madness is divinest Sense –
To a discerning Eye -“
66. Foweles in the Frith by Anonymous
“Foweles in the frith,
The fisses in the flod …”
67. Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Emily Dickinson
“We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –”
68. We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks
“We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We …”
Get more poems for middle and high school students.
69. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—”
70. Sonnet 5 by William Shakespeare
“A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,
Beauty’s effect with beauty were bereft …”
71. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”
72. Birches by Robert Frost
“They click upon themselves
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—”
73. I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died by Emily Dickinson
“With Blue – uncertain – stumbling Buzz –
Between the light – and me –
And then the Windows failed – and then
I could not see to see -“
74. Caged Bird by Maya Angelou
“The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees …”
75. The Pied Piper of Hamlin by Robert Browning
“The river Weser, deep and wide,
Washes its wall on the southern side …”
76. Song of Myself: 36 by Walt Whitman
“Our vessel riddled and slowly sinking, preparations to pass to the one we have conquer’d,
The captain on the quarter-deck coldly giving his orders through a countenance white as a sheet …”