Alliteration vs. Allusion — What's the Difference?

In literature, alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of identical initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables within a group of words, even those spelled differently. As a method of linking words for effect, alliteration is also called head rhyme or initial rhyme.

Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection.

The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference

The repetition of identical or similar sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, as in "on scrolls of silver snowy sentences" (Hart Crane). Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal; certain literary traditions, such as Old English verse, also alliterate using vowel sounds.

The act of alluding; indirect reference

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals.

An instance of indirect reference

The recurrence of the same letter in accented parts of words, as in Anglo-Saxon alliterative meter.

An indirect reference; a hint; a reference to something supposed to be known, but not explicitly mentioned

The repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as in the following lines: -

A figurative or symbolical reference.

Use of the same consonant at the beginning of each stressed syllable in a line of verse;

A reference to something supposed to be known, but not explicitly mentioned; a covert indication; indirect reference; a hint.

Passing reference or indirect mention