Symploce
Symploce is the repetition of the same words at both the start and the end of successive clauses or sentences, so that only the middle changes.
Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
That is 2 Corinthians 11:22 in the King James Bible. Every clause opens with Are they and closes with so am I. The only part that changes is the middle (Hebrews, Israelites, the seed of Abraham), and because both ends are fixed, the reader's attention goes straight to it.
Symploce (pronounced SIM-ploh-see) is simply two older figures used at once: anaphora, which repeats the opening, and epistrophe, which repeats the ending. Hold both ends still and the sentence becomes a frame with a slot in it.
How symploce works
Think of each clause as three parts:
- The opening (repeated)
- The middle (changes every time)
- The ending (repeated)
The repetition tells the reader that the clauses belong together, so they start comparing them. The change in the middle is what they compare. That makes symploce a tool for one job: laying several things side by side and saying they all end up in the same place.
Here is how it sits in the repetition family:
- Anaphora: We asked in March. We asked in June. Same start.
- Epistrophe: The survey was late. The apology was late. Same end.
- Symploce: They say the delay was unavoidable. They say the cost was unavoidable. Same start and same end.
Symploce examples
An accusation
They say the delay was unavoidable. They say the cost was unavoidable. They say the silence was unavoidable.
Why it works: They say keeps the claim at arm's length, and was unavoidable repeats until it sounds like an excuse rather than a fact. The list escalates too: silence is the one thing that plainly could have been avoided.
A character who has kept count
When you were sick, you called me. When you were broke, you called me. When you were done with me, you called me.
Why it works: the repeated ending turns a complaint into a pattern. The third middle is where the speaker's hurt shows, and the unchanged frame makes that shift land harder.
Two clauses, one comparison
Nobody warned the tenants about the fire. Nobody warned the council about the fire.
Why it works: with only two clauses, symploce reads as a pointed comparison rather than a build. The reader is asked a question without anyone asking it: why were both groups kept in the dark?
Inside a scene
"Marsh signed the order, and you knew. Marsh read the report, and you knew. Marsh sat in that meeting, and you knew. So don't tell me you were kept out of it."
Why it works: the character runs the pattern three times, then breaks it with a plain sentence. The frame builds an expectation, and the break is where the accusation lands. A rehearsed speaker can get away with this; a panicking one could not.
Short and quiet
She kept the letters because of him. She burned the letters because of him.
Why it works: symploce does not have to be loud. Here the only change is one verb, kept and burned, and the unchanged frame makes the reversal read as the whole story of a relationship in two lines. It also works as antithesis, since the two middles are opposites.
When to use symploce
Symploce is conspicuous. Readers can see it has been built, so it suits moments where building is believable:
- Argument and persuasion. A lawyer's closing, a political speech, a letter of complaint. The fixed frame suggests the speaker has thought it through.
- Dialogue from a character who has rehearsed. Someone confronting a partner after weeks of thinking about it will talk in patterns. Someone surprised in the moment will not.
- The end of a chapter or a section. The frame gives a sense of a case closed.
- Lists that need to feel like evidence. Each item slots into the same frame, so the reader weighs them as a set.
It is a poor fit for plain, fast narration, or for a point-of-view character who does not think in patterns. There it sounds like the author stepping in.
Common mistakes
- Too many repetitions. Three is the practical limit. By the fourth, the reader hears the device instead of the point. Cut to your strongest three.
- A frame that is too long. If the repeated parts are longer than the changing part, the middle gets lost. In the report that was sent to the board, the figures were wrong repeated three times is a paragraph of padding. Trim the frame to a few words.
- Middles that do not escalate. The changing items should build or turn. If they could go in any order, the pattern feels mechanical. Put the heaviest item last.
- Repetition with nothing to compare. If the middles are near-synonyms (delay, lateness, slowness), the frame has nothing to show. Pick items that differ in a way that matters.
- Mistaking it for chiasmus. Chiasmus reverses words (live to eat, eat to live). Symploce repeats them in the same order at both ends.
How to write one
- Decide what the list is really about. That becomes the repeated ending (was unavoidable, you called me).
- Decide whose voice or angle frames it. That becomes the repeated opening (They say, When you were).
- Choose two or three middles that differ in a way the reader should notice, and put the strongest last.
- Read it aloud. If it sounds like a chant, cut a clause or shorten the frame.
If you are not sure whether a pattern in your manuscript reads as deliberate or as repetition, that is the kind of thing a line edit catches.
Frequently asked questions
What is symploce in simple terms?
Symploce is a pattern where several sentences in a row start with the same words and end with the same words. Only the middle of each sentence changes, so the reader compares the changing parts.
How do you pronounce symploce?
It is pronounced SIM-ploh-see, with the stress on the first syllable. It is sometimes misspelled 'symplace'.
What is the difference between symploce and anaphora?
Anaphora repeats only the opening words of each clause. Symploce repeats the opening words and the closing words, so it is anaphora and epistrophe used together.
What does symploce mean in Greek?
The word comes from the Greek symploke, meaning an interweaving or intertwining, which describes how the repeated start and the repeated end are woven through each clause.
How many times should symploce repeat?
Two or three clauses is usual. Two sets up a comparison, three builds to a point, and a fourth tends to sound like a chant rather than an argument.