Product Code Database
Anastrophe (from the , anastrophē, "a turning back or about") is a figure of speech in which the normal word order of the subject, the verb, and the object is changed.
Anastrophe is a hyponym of the antimetabole, where anastrophe only transposes one word in a sentence. For example, subject–verb–object ("I like potatoes") might be changed to object–subject–verb ("potatoes I like"). (2025). 9781400826568, Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400826568 - silva rhetoricae
If the emphasis that comes from anastrophe is not an issue, the synonym inversion is perfectly suitable.
Anastrophe is common in Ancient Greek and Latin poetry, such as in the first line of the Aeneid:
In the example, the genitive case noun Troiæ ("of Troy") has been separated from the noun that it governs ( oris, "shores") in a way that would be rather unusual in Latin prose. In fact, the liberty of Latin word order allows "of Troy" to be taken to modify "arms" or "the man" but is not customarily interpreted so.
Anastrophe also occurs in English poetry, as in the third verse of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
The word order of "his hand dropt he" is not the customary word order in English, even in the archaism English that Coleridge seeks to imitate. Also, excessive use of the device if the emphasis is unnecessary or even unintended, especially for the sake of rhyme or metre, is usually considered a flaw, such as the clumsy versification of Sternhold and Hopkins's metrical psalter:
However, some poets have a style that depends on heavy use of anastrophe. Gerard Manley Hopkins is particularly identified with the device, which renders his poetry susceptible to parody:
When anastrophe draws an adverb to the head of a thought, such as for emphasis, the verb is drawn along. That causes a verb-subject inversion:
A popular cultural example of anastrophe would be Yoda from the Star Wars series. “Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.”
|
|
