Polyptoton is a captivating literary device, which creates a connection between the words and ideas within a single phrase or sentence to deepen and add rhythm to the language. This article will explore the definition of Polyptoton, its importance, examples in literature as well as related terms.
What is Polyptoton?
Polyptoton is a literary device which uses the same root word in different forms, or in different grammatical structures, in the same passage or a sentence. It includes the use of different words with the same meaning, such as verbs, nouns or adjectives. This particular literary term is used to create stress or rhythmic effect to explain a multiple dimensions of a concept.
For example, in the line “With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder” (“Richard II” by Shakespeare), the author uses the words i.e. “feeding” and “feeder” from the same root to explore the concept of eating, consumption and the consequences of both. This technique also encourages the reader to ponder the different aspects of the main theme.
Importance of Polyptoton
In literature, polyptoton stresses the important themes and concepts. The difference in meanings allows the authors to discuss distinct views of one concept. Polyptoton is the repetition of the same word in different forms. It brings focus on the main concept in the story and fortifies its importance. This repetition attracts the readers to think of the layered meanings that the word has, and provides depth to the text.
Additionally, polyptoton serves an aesthetic purpose in terms of rhythm and musicality. This makes a passage more pleasing and easy to remember. The use of repeated forms in a sentence or paragraph length, contains a rhythmic quality. It enhances the quality of the reader’s experience and strengthens the connection between the form and the meaning.
Examples of Polyptoton in Literature
The stylistic device of polyptoton contains numerous forms of a particular word to stress the particular ideas, add rhythm and to deepen the meaning of the theme. Following are the examples of polyptoton in literature:
Example#1
“Hamlet” by William Shakespeare
“With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! / It is not, nor it cannot come to good. / But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.”
Hamlet continues to express his disgust that his mother married Claudius so hastily. By placing “it is not”, “it cannot” with “come to good”, Shakespeare focuses on the skepticism of Hamlet and surrenders to the present circumstance. The use of repetitive variations of ‘not’ and ‘cannot’ imparts Hamlet’s sense of morality that this union will lead to ruin.
Example#2
“Richard II” by William Shakespeare
“With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder.”
In this play, the author employs the terms “feeding”, “food” and “feeder” to indicate that greed leads to the self-destruction. Through the use of various forms of the word, such as “feed”, he makes clear that when the act of consumption, which should ultimately sustain, turns destructive, it reinforces the themes of excess and consequence.
Example#3
“Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare
“The breaking of so great a thing should make
A greater crack: the round world
Should have shook lions into civil streets
And citizens to their dens.”
Here, the writer uses variations of the word “shake” (in the form of “shook” and “breaking”) to describe the chaos that comes after Caesar’s death. The use of the polyptoton contributes to the disruption of the event, leaving it monumental, and feels like an earthquake which disturbs the world and natural order.
Example#4
“The Dry Salvages” by T.S. Eliot
“There is no end, but addition: the trailing
Consequence of further days and hours,
While time is time.”
The word “time” has been repeated over and over again in different forms, which reminds us that the time is a continuous unending force. Eliot stresses that, “time is time”, which denotes the passage of time and its effect on the human existence. This polyptoton lends the poem a meditative tone as the speaker reflects on the incessant march of time.
Example#5
“Paradise Lost” by John Milton
“Yet not the more
Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt
Clear spring, or shady grove, or sunny hill,
Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief
Thee, Sion, and the flow’ry brooks beneath,
That wash thy hallowed feet, and warbling flow,
Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget
Those other two equaled with me in fate,
So were I equaled with them in renown.”
Here, the words “smit” and “smote” have been used as the variations of “strike”. These words give a bit more sense of intensity and commitment. The author repeats (different forms of) words with reference to movement and action, and highlights the dedication of the speaker to the Muses and their poetic journey.
Example#6
“Antony and Cleopatra” by William Shakespeare
“The hearts that spanieled me at heels,
To whom I gave their wishes, do discandy,
Melt their sweets on blossoming Caesar.”
Shakespeare finds various plays on “spaniel” to describe Antony’s followers, who were once loyal and are now abandoning him. By using these opposite forms of the same word, he emphasizes Antony’s feeling of betrayal and lost loyalty.
The use of polyptoton adds to the portrayal of Antony’s anguish as those who adored him previously change allegiance to Caesar.
See also: Examples of Portmanteau in Literature
Example#7
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
“Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.”
Here, Frost uses different forms of “way” to consider the idea that choices bring on more options, each of them leads to the next. The polyptoton stresses the idea of the way in life being connected and indeterminate while showing the poet’s contemplation on the impact of every choice.
Example#8
“In Memoriam A.H.H.” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“My own dim life should teach me this,
That life shall live forevermore.”
The use of words, such as “life” and “live” stress the eternal quality of the human soul. Through these different forms of the word “life”, he explores the themes of mortality and immortality, which emphasizes the poem’s contemplative tone and the speaker’s yearning for reassurance in the face of loss. Each variation of “life” is another step toward comfort, and the polyptoton increases the rhythmic quality of the passage.
Examples of Polyptoton in Pop Culture
Example#1
“The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
“I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the sun.”
In this line, Katniss Everdeen uses a bunch of variations of words having something to do with appearance and beauty.
Collins juxtaposes “pretty”, “beautiful” and “radiant” in order to further explore Katniss’ complicated view of herself, and her rebellion against what is expected to be beautiful.
The use of this polyptoton encapsulates Katniss endurance and inner strength, qualities which make her unique from what the Capitol expects (superficiality).
Example#2
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by J.K. Rowling
“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
Here in this phrase both the words “swear” and “solemnly” represent variations on the theme of promise and mischief. These words add a playful irony as the solemn promise (“swear”) contrasts with “no good” mischief to come.
This polyptoton reflects the dual nature of the Marauders’ Map itself, as well as the unbalanced friendship that is central to the characters’ relationships.
See also: Polemic Examples in Literature
Related Terms
1- Anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of the same word, with changes in meaning, at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences.
Polyptoton differs from anaphora because anaphora emphasizes the repetition of exact figures of speech to create emphasis, rhythm and a sense of development within the text, while polyptoton changes forms of a word.
Example: In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he repeats “I have a dream” at the beginning of several sentences to emphasize his vision for equality and justice.
2- Antanaclasis
Words are repeated with a different meaning in antanaclasis. While polyptoton relies on varying forms of the same root word, this rhetorical device uses more than one sense or connotation of a word to add depth and, potentially, humor to a text.
Example: In Benjamin Franklin’s line, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately,” the word “hang” first suggests unity, then literal execution, which creates a witty contrast within the phrase.
See also: Literary Devices That Start With P
