Repetition
Repetition: Repeating a word, phrase or structure so it gathers weight and rhythm.
Repetition is emphasis a reader can hear: each return of the phrase raises its temperature, which is why it anchors both oratory and elegy.
Repetition examples
"Break, break, break, / On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!"
— Break, Break, Break, Alfred, Lord Tennyson
"In his 1941 Harrow School speech, Churchill hammered a single instruction: never give in, never, never, never."
— Winston Churchill, Harrow School speech, 1941
"The phrase 'So it goes' recurs more than a hundred times."
— Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
"Nobody said it was her fault. Nobody said anything at all. Nobody stayed."
— original example
Spot the Repetition
Score: 0/0Repeating a word, phrase or structure so it gathers weight and rhythm.
"Break, break, break, / On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!"
Which work is this from?
Explore every literary device in the poetic devices hub.
Repetition: common questions
What is repetition in literature?
Repeating a word, phrase or structure so it gathers weight and rhythm. Repetition is emphasis a reader can hear: each return of the phrase raises its temperature, which is why it anchors both oratory and elegy.
What is an example of repetition?
A classic example is "Break, break, break, / On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!" (Break, Break, Break, Alfred, Lord Tennyson).
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