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Epistrophe

Updated: Nov 16


Epistrophe is a rhetorical device that relies on repetition. One of the most famous examples of epistrophe is from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:


. . . government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The main difference is that the effects of epistrophe are often more subtle, as you the listener has to wait till the end of the utterance to notice the pattern of repetition.

Picture of Senators Bentsen and Qualyle in the 1988 vice presidential debate

What is epistrophe?


Epistrophe is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses that immediately follow each other, especially for rhetorical or poetic effect. It is commonly used in poetry, speeches, and prose.


In Greek, it means turning about. Epistrophe tends to have the same effect as anaphora. It is used just as well to create a rhythmic effect that can establish a pattern that can either be continued or disrupted. 


Example of epistrophe in verse


Repetitive patterns such as epistrope is used for excellent effect in poetry, especially lyrical forms such as ballads. A good example of this would be the The Highwaman, a poem by Alfred Noyes.


Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard.

He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred.   

He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there   

But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,

         Bess, the landlord’s daughter,

Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.


And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked

Where Tim the ostler listened. His face was white and peaked.   

His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,   

But he loved the landlord’s daughter,

         The landlord’s red-lipped daughter.

Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say—


“One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I’m after a prize to-night,

But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;

Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,   

Then look for me by moonlight,

         Watch for me by moonlight,

I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.”


In this ballad, epistrophe occurs in every stanza in the two lines (or rhyming couplet) that precede the final line of each stanza. The effect is to give the ballad a song-like quality. 


Example of epistrophe in prose


Epistriophe can also be used effectively in literary prose. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens (1859) uses it to describe ironically the obsession with death that often characterized the French Revolution, the setting of his novel. 


Death is Nature’s remedy for all things, and why not the Legislation’s? Accordingly, the forger was put to Death; the utterer of a bad note was put to Death; the unlawful opener of a letter was put to Death; the purloiner of forty shillings and sixpence was put to Death; the holder of a horse at Tellson’s door, who made off with it, was put to Death; the coiner of a bad shilling was put to Death; the sounders of three-forths of the notes in the whole gamut of Crime, were put to Death” (39)

The repetition of “put to death” to describe the fate of such a large number of people committing such petty crimes has an ironic and chilling effect. The author says it casually. It gives a good impression of how something typically seen as horrific was accepted as the norm in that era. 

 

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Example of epistrophe in speech


Epistrophe is a rhetorical device that can also be used for great effect in debates and speeches. A famous example of this is during the vice presidential debate between Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen.


Dan Quayle in an attempt to respond to concerns about his lack of political experience claimed that he had similar levels of experience to Jack Kennedy when Kennedy decided to run for presidential office. The response of his rival Lloyd Bentsen was as follows:


Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.

The crowd erupted into applause and cheers after the comment. 

It is an appropriate example of how such a simple rhetorical device could be used to great effect. The first two short sentences ending with the repetition of the name of Jack Kennedy seem harmless enough. 


The third sentence interrupts the patterns as if to give us pause before the devastating blow that picks up the epistrophic pattern again: “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.” 


References


Farnworth, W. (2010). Farnsworth’s Classical English Rhetoric. David R. Gordine. 

 

Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2024, September 09). Epistrophe. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/epistrophe


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