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Reversed repetition

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 phrase or clause is repeated in reverse order (e.g., “love is pain, pain is love”) to emphasize contrast or symmetry.

Detailed Definition
Reversed repetition is a poetic device in which a phrase or clause is repeated later in the poem but with its word order, syntax, or perspective inverted, thereby altering its meaning or emotional valence; this technique highlights transformation, irony, or revelation, as the repeated element accrues new significance through its altered context.
Example
Example in poetry:
The figure of speech where a phrase is immediately repeated in reverse order; this is an antimetabole (a type of chiasmus) such as: "Fail to plan is to plan to fail."; Using the word-unit palindrome: "Down the river we went, we went the river down." (A-B-C-D, D-C-B-A pattern of repetition).; A stanza that repeats the entire second line as the first line of the next stanza, but with the word order completely reversed.; The repetition of a line or a key phrase in the poem where the words are the same but the syntax is flipped for new emphasis.

Repeating line inverted: “He loves me, he loves me not” → “He loves me not, he loves me”; Parallel lines reversed; Echo turned backwards; Chanting reversal effect
Additional Notes
Reversed repetition is a technique where a phrase or line is repeated later in the poem, but the words or clauses within it are presented in reverse order; a form of chiasmus or antimetabole.

Inverted repetition: A technique where a word, phrase, or clause is repeated in reverse order or with a reverse emphasis later in the poem; related to chiasmus and antimetabole.
Also Known As
Inverse repetition backward recurrence reversed reiteration Antimetabole Inverted repetition backward echo inverted recurrence Antistrophic echo
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