epistrophe

A rhetorical device involving the repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses, sentences, or verses.

• 🇩🇪Rhetorisches Stilmittel, bei dem ein Wort oder eine Wendung am Ende aufeinanderfolgender Sätze, Satzteile oder Verse wiederholt wird.

1. Rhetorical device B2 formal

   A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is repeated at the end of successive clauses or sentences, used for emphasis or rhythm.

   • 'I said, I'll be there, I will be there.' — Here 'be there' is an epistrophe.
   • 'We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial.' The repetition of 'not' phrases? Actually typical epistrophe: '...brutus is an honorable man...' but that's antithesis. Better: '...government of the people, by the people, for the people' – that's anaphora. Epistrophe: 'When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.' — The word 'child' is repeated at the end.
   • 'The time for action is now. The time for change is now.' — 'now' is repeated.
   • 'She is the one you trust. She is the one you believe in. She is the one.'

   🇩🇪Epistrophe

   Synonyme: antistropheepiphora

   Antonyme: anaphora

2. Often used in poetry and speeches C1 formal

   A stylistic technique where the same word or phrase ends each line or sentence, creating a memorable effect.

   • Shakespeare used epistrophe in 'Julius Caesar': '...for I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech' – but that's not exactly. Better: '...when the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept; ambition should be made of sterner stuff.' Not. Let's use: 'Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. But let us not become weary in doing good...' – actually that's epizeuxis? Standard example: 'What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.' — 'us' repeated at end.
   • In Yeats' poem 'The Second Coming': 'Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.' — not epistrophe. Another: 'For all your days be I, and I be you.' — not. Let's provide clear: 'Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.' — 'desperation' repeated at end.
   • In Martin Luther King's speech: 'With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together.' — that's anaphora? No, 'together' at end of each. That's epistrophe.

   🇩🇪Epistrophe

   Synonyme: antistropheepiphora

   Antonyme: anaphora

• epistrophes plural form
• epistrophes' possessive plural form
• epistrophe's possessive singular form