Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Useful Table on the Definitions of Poetic Parallelisms

 Definitions of Poetic Parallelisms

 

Synonymous parallelism

The two lines feature synonyms—words that mean the same or nearly the same thing, such as people and persons, shut and close, house and home.

Antithetical parallelism

The two lines feature opposites—words that feature opposites or contrasts, such as man and woman, day and night, good and bad.

Emblematic parallelism

One or both lines feature emblematic (symbolic) words or themes, including similes, metaphors, personifications, and so forth.

Chiasmus

A mirrored parallelism, or a presentation of a series of words or thoughts followed by a second presentation of similar words or thoughts but in reverse order, such as “woman, man, man, woman”; or “tree, river, river, tree.”

 

Table taken from:

 

Donald W. Parry, Search Diligently The Words of Isaiah (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2023), 51