Rhetoric & FiguresIntermediate
Diacope
A word or phrase repeats with a small interruption between the returns.
Principle
The gap between repetitions lets feeling enter.
Takeaways
- It can sound intimate, desperate, ceremonial, comic, or obsessive.
- The intervening words often sharpen address or emotional pitch.
- Its force depends on rhythm as much as meaning.
Overview
Diacope repeats a word or phrase after one or more intervening words. The interruption keeps the repetition from being static; the phrase returns with breath, address, or intensification.
Examples
- The house, the terrible house, waited.
- Stay, just stay until morning.