Final answer:
Alliteration in Oscar Wilde's poem emphasizes the sad and lonely setting, intensifying the mood and the speaker's sense of isolation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The use of alliteration in the excerpt from "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" by Oscar Wilde affects the meaning by drawing attention to the sad and lonely setting of the scene. Phrases like "empty corridors" and "white faces seemed to peer" contribute to the poem's atmosphere of isolation and despair, emphasizing the desolation and the emotional impact the setting has on the speaker. This literary device intensifies the mood and helps to paint a vivid picture of the environment surrounding the speaker in the poem.
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