Repetition & Refrain
Anaphora
Repeating the same word or phrase at the beginnings of successive clauses, sentences, or lines. The repeated opening links the statements and draws attention to their different endings.
"We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields…" — Churchill
Don't confuse it with Epistrophe, Symploce. Epistrophe repeats at clause *ends*; symploce does both at once.
A similar example that does not qualify
The hall needed light. Later, the hall filled with music.
“The hall” recurs, but not at successive clause openings; the second sentence starts with “Later.”
Counterexample written for practice.
Compare sentences using Anaphora →Examples
We need shelter. We need food. We need time.
The same opening, “We need,” begins three successive sentences.
Let the river rise. Let the bridges stand. Let the people cross.
“Let the” begins each successive sentence.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom
“It was” opens three successive clauses; best and worst also form an antithesis.
A possible effect: The repeated opening presents opposing judgments as descriptions of the same period.
Practice explaining this example →If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
“If you” begins successive conditional sentences, each followed by a question with an implied yes.
A possible effect: The repeated appeals ask the listener to acknowledge shared bodily responses, one test after another.
Practice explaining this example →The hall needed light. The hall needed heat. The hall needed music.
The same opening begins three successive sentences.
A possible effect: Repeating “The hall needed” gives each need a separate insistence.
Practice explaining this example →No one called. No one knocked. No one came.
“No one” begins all three sentences.
A possible effect: The repeated absence makes the waiting feel increasingly desolate.
Practice explaining this example →Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as anaphora.
Metaphor 26 Polysyndeton 23 Asyndeton 21 Parallelism 20 Antithesis 19 Parataxis 19 Personification 17 Litotes 17
The rest of the family
Epistrophe Symploce Epanalepsis Anadiplosis Gradatio / Climax Epizeuxis Diacope Conduplicatio Polyptoton