Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds. The repeated consonants normally occur at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables.
In Anglo-Saxon or Old English poetry, alliteration was used as a rule along with accentual meter. In its broad meaning, alliteration also includes assonance also; in that sense, the repetition of consonant sounds is called consonance and the repetition of vowel sounds is called assonance. Hopkins’ poem “The Windhover” has used alliteration extensively.
