Wise Wednesday Grammar: Epanalepsis

Figure of speech.

SCHEMES.

Epanalepsis

The epanalepsis is a figure of speech defined by the repetition of the initial word (or words) of a clause or sentence at the end of that same clause or sentence. The beginning and the end are the two positions of stronger emphasis in a sentence; so, by having the same phrase in both places, the speaker calls special attention to it. Nested double-epanalepses form another figure of speech, which is called an antimetabole.

Examples

• The king is dead; long live the king.
• Severe to his servants, to his children severe.
• They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of these things, and then again he was all of these things because the town bowed down. —Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Beloved is mine; she is Beloved.
• Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! —Shakespeare, King Lear, 3.2.1
• Nice to see you, to see you, nice. —Bruce Forsyth

Etymology

From the Greek ἐπανάληψις, epanálēpsis, literally meaning "repetition, resumption, taking up again".

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