Anaphora, anaphora, anaphora!

More on anaphora

English: The Declaration of Independence

While its use in a forensic environment, or in a document such as the Declaration of Independence, a declaration of freedom in a formal setting (congress), is for emphasis of point and message or easing the flow of a argument, anaphora can also be used to aid the development of tone and message in poetry , make it more elegant, read fluently, or still emphasize or convey a point, but in a less forceful manner.

Thomas Jefferson makes repeated use of the word "that" in the preamble to emphasize how essential the basic rights of man were. Another anaphoric tricolon:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Anaphora

Anaphora, anaphora, anaphora!

A rhetorical device commonly used by the greatest writers, anaphora is a device where a word is repeated at the beginning of several consecutive clauses. It can be used for dramatic effect, or emphasis of point.

In Latin: C and C

Two examples of anaphora in Latin rather than one: One is drawn from the Exordium of Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta Oratio, and the other from Catullus 5. Cicero (among many other things) repeats si and aut si in an anaphoric tricolon (three clauses with anaphora starting them), making for a staggering opening statement,and Catullus repeats deinde and dein (depending on how it fits the hendecasyllabic meter) to emphasize his intense love for Lesbia.

Cicero vs. Catullus

Cicero: PA Exordium

Cicero uses anaphora in his opening statement, to elucidate his argument and give it more power, enforcing the point with si...aut si...aut si... This repetition drives his essential opening message home to the listener.

Catullus uses anaphora, in his position as a neoteric poet, in a more lighthearted fashion. He still emphasizes a point, but does so with less force and gravity.

Catullus 5

Si quid est in me ingeni, iudices, quod sentio quam sit exiguum, aut si qua exercitatio dicendi, in qua me non infitior mediocrieter esse versatum aut si huiusce rei ratio aliqua ab optimarum artium studiis...

"If I have anything of talent, o judges, and I know how slight that may be, or if I have any method of speaking, in which (activity) I do not deny I am moderately engaged in, or if I have any method in my oratory, from my studies of the liberal arts..."

...deinde centum,/ dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,/

deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum./dein...

...then one hundred, then another thousand, then a second hundred, then another thousand without stop, then one hundred. Then...