Isocolon
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Isocolon is a figure of speech in which parallelism is reinforced by members that are of the same length. A well-known example of this is Julius Caesar's "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came; I saw; I conquered), which also illustrates that a common form of isocolon is tricolon, or the use of three parallel members.
It is derived from the Greek, iso ("same") and kolon ("member", "clause").
[edit] Examples
- "We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills;" Winston Churchill Speech to the House of Commons June 4, 1940. (N.B. While this example does not always contain isocolon in its strictest sense -- the clauses are not all of the same length -- Churchill varies the form to sustain greater interest)
- "They have suffered severely, but they have fought well." Winston Churchill Speech to the House of Commons June 18, 1940
- "Let each man search his conscience and search his speeches." Winston Churchill Speech to the House of Commons June 18, 1940
- "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse." Charles V
- "Many will enter. Few will win" Nabisco
- "No ifs, ands, or buts." English Pronoun
[edit] References
Corbett, Edward P.J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.
