Question

Which lines in this excerpt from Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" contain alliteration?

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee

. . .

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Answer 1

There are quite a few examples in this poem, but I can point out two. Firstly, an alliteration is the use of multiple words that have the same starting sound in them, usually starting with the same letters.

In line one, when the author writes, "half so happy in heaven", the "h" sounds in the words are stressed, creating an alliteration.

Similarly, the last line says, "sounding sea", which stresses the "s" sounds to create alliteration.