In keeping with its formal homage to the Ewe dirge tradition in which poet Kofi Awoonor was raised, "The Sea Eats the Land at Home" is highly reliant on poetic techniques related to sound and repetition. Alliteration is one of these.
For instance, the beginning of the poem relies on alliteration to set the scene of the flood, by repeating the hard /c/ sound in words like "cooking," "collecting," "came," and "carried." This loud, harsh sound suggests the unwelcome intrusion of the sea, while the repeated heavy /d/ in "day," "dead" and "destroying" emphasizes the destruction itself.
Later in the poem, a similar effect is achieved when the /w/ sound is used three times in quick alliterative succession:
It is a sad thing to hear the wails,
And the mourning shouts of the women,
Calling on all the gods they worship,
The alliteration in these three words helps to link the women with their sorrow, and that sorrow with their only recourse—calling on the gods for help.
Finally, the poem uses alliteration in a quietly devastating fashion in the final lines, which repeat an /h/ sound, as well as an assonant long /o/ sound, in "home," "whole," and again "home." This round, mournful sound captures the tragedy of the sea's destruction, while the quick succession of "whole" and "home" underscores the true depth of the disaster.