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Callback device

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A rhetorical device where a later line or image echoes or references an earlier element, reinforcing motifs, themes, or structural cohesion within the poem.

Detailed Definition
A call-back device is a poetic technique in which a word, image, or phrase from an earlier part of the poem is reintroduced later to create resonance, closure, or ironic revision; this structural echo functions like a musical motif or narrative callback in comedy, rewarding attentive readers with a sense of cohesion or layered meaning, and is particularly effective in long poems or sequences where memory and recurrence become central themes.
Example
Example in poetry:
“In rap music, a phrase is introduced and later referenced to create cohesion, like ‘You know the name, now hear the game.’”; “A poem repeats an earlier phrase or image near the end to link thematic elements, serving as a callback.”

Call-back device: A later line echoing an earlier phrase to create resonance—e.g., in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this…” recalls the poem’s opening theme of immortality.
Additional Notes
A recurrent motif, phrase, or image that appears later in a poem, referencing or echoing an earlier part; The device creates unity, emphasizes a theme, or signals a return to a starting point; Related to leitmotif and repetition.

Reference to earlier line, phrase, or image later in poem. Creates internal echo. Related: anaphora, repetition, motif. See also: borrowed refrain. Builds structure through recurrence without exact repetition.
Also Known As
recall device echo device responsive callback Call-back device returning reference echo technique backward reference
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