Hyperbaton
Definition: A device in which the author changes the regular positioning of words and phrases within a sentence to create a different structure that conveys the same meaning. This allows words or phrases to overstep their conventional uses and creates a more intriguing, complex sentence with more depth.
Example from The Rape of the Lock:
“This nymph, to the destruction of mankind, / Nourished two locks, which graceful hung behind / In equal curls, and well conspired to deck / with shining ringlets the smooth iv’ry neck” (Pope 71-74).
Function: By rearranging the words within each one of these lines and placing phrases such as “two locks,” “equal curls,” and “shining ringlets,” Alexander Pope is able to place the emphasis on what he is conveying in these few lines on the hair of the young girl itself, and not what is actually happening to the hair.
Example from Measure for Measure:
“Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall”
-William Shakespeare
Non-Original Mnemonic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVI28EieHW4
Original Mnemonic: Some people may twirl their baton hyperly while others may hyperly twirl their baton.
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