“Ronald, if you are going through with that long yarn, I think you had better take it back to the barn with you, and reel it off to the cows.”
“I can say it right straight through, to X Y Z,” said Ronald.
“Well, we’ll take your word for it—we wont ask you to prove it,” replied Marcus.
“What do you call it, when all the words in a line begin with the same letter?” inquired Ronald.
“When two or more words, near together, commence with the same letter, it is called alliteration,” replied Marcus. “It is what the poet calls ‘apt alliteration’s artful aid.’”
“I’ve got a curious specimen of alliteration, that I found in an old newspaper,” said Kate; and from a small roll of paper clippings which she had in her pocket she drew forth the curiosity. It contained five little poems, or “univocalic verses,” as they were called, each of which contained only one of the vowels. The following is a specimen. It is on the fall of Eve, and contains no vowel but e, as will be observed;
“Eve, Eden’s Empress, needs defended be:
The Serpent greets her when she seeks the tree;
Serene, she sees the speckled tempter creep;
Gentle he seems—perversest schemer deep—