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Literature vocabulary · Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

Epistrophe

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, epistrophe means: Repetition of the same words at the ends of successive clauses or lines.

In Turkish: son yineleme, epifora

How it is used

Use in rhetorical analysis; contrast the repeated endings with anaphora's repeated beginnings.

Example sentences

  1. The speech uses epistrophe as each promise ends with 'for our children'.

    The repeated ending gives different promises one shared purpose.

  2. We removed one epistrophe because the repeated final phrase weakened the quiet stanza.

    Revision weighs the repeated ending against the desired restraint.

Common collocations

  • use epistrophe
  • epistrophe in a speech
  • anaphoraA rhetorical device in which a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of nearby clauses, lines, or sentences for emphasis.
  • rhythmThe pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables, pauses and speed in a line of poetry or prose, which gives it a sense of movement.

More terms: Literary Devices and Figures of Speech

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