Isocolon

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 ἴσος (ísos), "equal" and κῶλον (kôlon), "member, clause".

Examples

• "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 Proverb
• "With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage" Claudius, Act 1 Scene 2 of Hamlet

See also

• Figure of speech

References

• Corbett, Edward P.J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. Oxford University Press, New York, 1971.

• Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. p. 680. ISBN 0-674-36250-0.