Repetition

Definition of Repetition

Repetition consists of repeating a word, phrase, or sentence, and is common in both poetry and . It is a rhetorical technique to add emphasis, unity, and/or power. Due to this definition of repetition, it is a common technique for orators to use. There have been examples of repetition throughout the course of human history, as it is a good way to help remember a story, particular lines of a story, or a story in song form. Thus, repetition has been an essential part of oral storytelling and can be found in legends, folk tales, and religious texts.

Different Types of Repetition

There are unique terms for many different types of repetition, most of them from Greek origin.

Poetic Forms that Use Repetition

The following poetic forms include repetition as necessary to their structure:

Repetition Examples from Literature

Example #1

But for now Anders can still make time. Time for the shadows to lengthen on the grass, time for the tethered dog to bark at the flying ball, time for the boy in right field to smack his sweat-blackened mitt and softly chant, They is, They is, They is.

(“Bullet to the Brain” by Tobias Wolff)

This excerpt of Wolff’s “Bullet to the Brain” contains the final two lines of the short story. The types of repetition represented here are anadiplosis, anaphora, and epizeuxis. The of the story has been reflecting on a grammatical error he heard as a young boy, and now in the last few moments of his life the phrase keeps repeating itself in his head. The effect in the story is to mimic the protagonist’s thought pattern as his brain starts to shut down.

Example #2

I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

(“The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes)

Hughes uses different types of repetition here, including anaphora and conduplicatio. The effect of repetition in this poem is to make the poem sound as though it’s coming from a storyteller.

Example #3

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

(“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas)

Dylan Thomas’s poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” is one of the most famous villanelles ever written. The repeated lines “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” continue to build intensity throughout the poem until the power of the final couplet.

Example #4

How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells,
Of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells—
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!

(“The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe)

This famous poem by Edgar Allen Poe features many different repetition examples, including epizeuxis, conduplicatio, and polyptoton. The word “bells” is repeated 62 times throughout the poem, often without words in between (epizeuxis). This particular type of repetition helps to make the poem sound much like the tolling of bells.

Test Your Knowledge in Repetition

1. Which repetition definition fits most aptly with the term anaphora?
A. A repeated word or phrase at the beginning of several lines.
B. A repeated word in the middle of every line or clause.
C. A repeated word at the end of every line or clause.

2. Consider the following line from “The Bells”:

How the danger sinks and swells,—
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells

What definition of repetition is this an example of?

A. Epizeuxis
B. Conduplicatio
C. Polyptoton

3. Look again at Dylan Thomas’s villanelle “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” Using that poem as a guide, which of the following structures is correct for the villanelle form? (Note: capital letters are used to note the repeated lines and lowercase letters to express the rhymes).

A. A b C / d e F / g h I / j k L / m n O / p q R S
B. A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2
C. A1 b C1 / d e A2 / f g C2 / h i A3 / j k C3 / l m A4 C4

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