Circular narrative in poetry describes a structural technique wherein the poem begins and ends with similar or identical imagery, phrasing, or thematic elements, creating a loop-like progression that suggests cyclical time, eternal recurrence, or unresolved emotional states; rather than advancing linearly toward resolution, the poem returns to its origin, reinforcing motifs of inevitability, memory, or ritual, as seen in T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets” (“In my beginning is my end”) or in traditional ballads where seasonal or mythic cycles frame human experience within natural or cosmic repetition.

Story structure that ends where it begins or loops back cyclically. Creates thematic unity and emphasizes eternal return. Related to: frame narrative, circular composition. Effective for meditative poetry.