Definition

1. Noun:
   • A rhetorical device involving repetition: "Epistrophe" is a figure of speech characterized by the repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses, sentences, or verses. It is used to create emphasis, rhythm, and emotional impact.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:
  • The speech was powerful due to its use of epistrophe, ending each paragraph with the phrase "we shall overcome."
  • "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child." This biblical verse is a classic example of epistrophe with the repetition of "as a child."

Advanced Usage

• As a structural device: Epistrophe can be used to structure an argument or a poem, providing a rhythmic cadence and reinforcing a central idea.
  • The poet employed epistrophe to unify the stanzas, each concluding with the haunting line "in the silent night."
• In contrast with anaphora: While anaphora repeats words at the beginning of clauses, epistrophe repeats them at the end. Using both in the same passage is called symploce.
  • Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech uses both anaphora ("I have a dream...") and epistrophe ("...let freedom ring").

Variants and Related Words

• Epistrophic (adj): Pertaining to or characterized by epistrophe.
  • The epistrophic structure of the poem made it memorable.
• Symploce (n): A combination of anaphora and epistrophe, repeating words at both the beginning and end of successive clauses.

Synonyms

• Epiphora: A synonymous term for epistrophe, used primarily in rhetoric.
• Antistrophe: In classical rhetoric, this term is often used interchangeably with epistrophe.

Related Terms and Concepts

• Anaphora (n): The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses (the opposite structural position of epistrophe).
• Conduplicatio (n): The repetition of a word or phrase in the middle of successive clauses.
• Refrain (n): A repeated line or phrase in a poem or song, often at the end of a stanza, which is a related poetic device.

Noun

1. repetition of the ends of two or more successive sentences, verses, etc.