Chapter All Fools' Day to Alliteration of A by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Which may be translated -

"Praise, Paul, prize pig's prolific progeny."

Tusser, who died 1580, has a rhyming poem of twelve lines, every word of which begins with t.

The Rev. B. Poulter, prebendary of Winchester, composed in 1828 the famous alliterative alphabetic poem in rhymes. Each word of each line begins with the letter of the alphabet which it represents. It begins thus: -

"An Austrian army awfully arrayed,
Boldly by battery besieged Belgrade;
Cussack commanders, cannonading come,
Dealing destruction's devastating doom; ..."

Some ascribe this alliterative poem to Alaric A. Watts (1820). (See H. Southgate, Many Thoughts on Many Things.)

Another attempt of the same kind begins thus: -

"About an age ago, as all agree,
Beauteous Belinda, brewing best Bohea
Carelessly chattered, controverting clean,
Dublin's derisive, disputatious dean ..."