A rhyme is the repetition of the accented vowel sound and all the sounds that follow. Rhyme is perhaps one of the oldest sound devices and certainly one of the most common. Most forms of poetry contain some sort of rhyme. A mixture of the placement of a rhyme and its reccurrence can link passages of a poem or song to draw attention from the reader. A rhyme scheme describes the pattern of the rhyme within a single body of work. Different rhymes can provide a poem with tragedy and with humor.
Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in quick succession or over the length of a phrase or passage. It is important to note that it is the repetition of the sound, not the spelling. Alliteration is an important aspect of poetry, especially in theater, for it is what poets or playwrights write to inform the speaker of its intent or rhythm. Actors often seek the alliterative sound devices in Shakespeare plays to more fully understand its meaning or objective.
Poets employ assonance when repeating a vowel sound but changing the surrounding consonants; therefore, the vowels will rhyme but the full word will not. An example of assonance can be found in the Lord's Prayer of Christianity: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." Assonance is common in hymns and gospels due to the power of a group sustaining the same vowel sounds.