Difference between Consonance and Alliteration

Consonance and Alliteration are two of the commonly confused literary devices. Both are quite related and are pretty mistaken for each other. The truth is, they are alike but they are not the same.

First, we need to know that Alliteration is a form of Consonance so Consonance is the main device here.

Consonance repeats the same consonant sound either in the beginning, middle or end of words which are close. The sound is mostly in the middle and at the end. 

Alliteration, on the other hand, repeats the same consonant sound only at the beginning of words.

Examples:

Consonance

• Fifty fearful Africans flew north.

• The aged man raged at the judge 

• I heard the rat-tat and pitter patter

Alliteration

• Father Francis fried five fishes

• Come and see the icy sea

• fresh frozen fruits from Fred's friends

Now this:

Frightened Africans in France flew home after

the scuffle.

In the above example, 'fr' alliterate, while 'f' is the consonance.