Diacope
The repetition of a word or phrase after a brief interruption, often for emphasis or emotion.
Diacope (Greek, 'a cutting through') is the figure in which a word or short phrase is repeated with one or two other words between the two occurrences. 'Bond. James Bond.' 'Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last.' The interruption in the middle is what distinguishes diacope from mere immediate repetition (epizeuxis), and the effect is a sense of urgency, insistence, or ceremony.
The figure appears everywhere in English rhetoric, from Shakespeare ('put out the light, and then put out the light') to advertising slogans ('the future is now — the future is Apple') to song lyrics ('bye bye, Miss American Pie'). Its rhythmic pattern — accent, small gap, accent again — is unusually memorable, which is why speechwriters and copywriters reach for it when a phrase needs to lodge.
Diacope is most effective when the intervening words carry additional meaning, so that the second occurrence of the repeated word lands changed. In 'the horror, the horror', the second 'horror' is not identical to the first: the definite article marks it as the horror the speaker has just been thinking of. In 'to be, or not to be', the repetition frames the question rather than simply doubling the phrase.
Overused, diacope becomes a mannerism. As a rule of thumb, use it once in a speech, once in a paragraph, and only when the phrase being repeated is doing enough work on its own to earn a second appearance.
“Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last.”
Keep reading the glossary
The immediate repetition of a word for emotional emphasis, without any intervening word.
The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive clauses.
A figure of speech that repeats the last word of one clause at the start of the next, chaining thought forward.
A figure of speech that repeats the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses.