There are many ways to use repetition in poetry. Each type of repetition can have a different impact on the way that your writing sounds and have a different effect on your readers. It can help writers to list for effect and emphasise particular words, emotions or phrases within your poetry. Let’s look at some different ways to use repetition.
Anaphora
This is the repetition of a word or a phrase at the beginning of a clause.
âWe shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender.â – Winston Churchill
Epistrophe
Similar to anaphora, this is the repetition of a word or a phrase at the end of a clause.
âWhere now? Who now? When now?â – The Unnamable, Samuel Beckett
Epizeuxis
This is the repetition of the same word or phrase in succession.
âAlone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide, wide seaâ
â The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Anadiplosis
This is the repetition of the last word of a clause as the first word of the next clause.
“This, it seemed to him, was the end, the end of a world as he had known it…” – James Oliver Curwood
Written by: Laura Clark
* Laura is a 23 year old English woman with a history degree residing in the UK. She has been writing for many years and enjoys writing horror/fantasy stories, as well as poetry. You can view her work at: https://inspiredstoriesandpoems.wordpress.com/
www.facebook.com/Creativetalentsunleashed
Sign up for our emails on writing tips at:
www.rajasinsight.com
Photo Credit: © Donna J. Sanders
