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In Jonathan Coulton's "Sticking It To Myself," the first word or phrase in one line (bolded) often also serves as the last word in the next line without repetition:

And I heard everything you said
Those things to try to get inside my head
Is full ...

Sticking it to my-
Self-control
That's not the only thing I lack
A plan
Just my own gun against my
Back down now and let this hostage
Go away

This is as opposed to the chorus of The Wanted's "Glad You Came," which does something similar but repeats the word on the next line:

Turn the lights out now
Now I'll take you by the hand
Hand you another drink
Drink it if you can
Can you spend a little time?
Time is slipping away
Away from us, so stay
Stay with me, I can make
Make you glad you came

What The Wanted's "Glad You Came" does by repeating the last words of one line in the start of the next line is called anadiplosis, but the name of the rhetorical scheme or literary device I'm seeking is that of the first example where the words at the end of one line are not repeated but instead themselves become the words that start the next line. Is there a name for this rhetorical scheme or literary device? If so, what is it?

Benjamin Harman
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Hactar
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  • Good question. I've heard this done too and wondered if there's a name for that rhetorical scheme or literary device. I don't think I've ever come across it, but there are hundreds and the vast majority I don't have committed to memory. What's more, searching for the name of one is extremely labor intensive since lacking the proper term means not being able to describe it in a manner that will lead to it popping up in a Boolean search so means reading through literally hundreds until finding it. So thanks for asking. I will be watching this question with pregnant anticipation for an answer. – Benjamin Harman May 08 '21 at 15:58
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    @BenjaminHarman It's anadiplosis, as stated in the answer at the duplicate which even features the same lyrics. – Andrew Leach May 08 '21 at 16:01
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    @AndrewLeach - Would that it were. An "anadiplosis" would be: "And I heard everything you said. You said those things to try to get inside my head. My head is full." What this is is: "And I heard everything *you said* those things to try to get inside *my head* is full." "You said" and "my head" at the end of each line isn't repeated at the beginning of the next (what an "anadiplosis" is) but are left not repeated and so are pulling double duty, serving doubly as the end of one line and the beginning of the next without actually being doubled, without actually being repeated. – Benjamin Harman May 08 '21 at 16:07
  • If the question is edited so it asks only one thing which has not been asked before, then it will no longer be a duplicate. – Andrew Leach May 08 '21 at 16:08
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    @AndrewLeach - I immediately did as you suggested and edited user Hactar's question so that it asks only one thing that has not been asked before and so is no longer a duplicate. When I finished, though, you'd already closed it. Still, the edit you said is required for it to not be closed stands, so how about you reopen it? – Benjamin Harman May 08 '21 at 16:25
  • Actually it was closed before your first comment. However, it is no longer :-) – Andrew Leach May 08 '21 at 16:26
  • @AndrewLeach - Well, that just shows how crazy long it takes me to write a comment since it wasn't closed when I opened the page and so must've closed while I was writing the comment, which, by the looks of things, must've taken me 15 minutes. Phew! Anyway, THANK YOU for reopening the question. Even though I didn't ask it, I have wondered about it and am quite interested in what the answer is. :) :) :) :) – Benjamin Harman May 08 '21 at 16:30
  • @BenjaminHarman Is this a duplicate? It seems to be, though it was closed as a duplicate of the question this one was originally closed with. – cigien May 08 '21 at 16:43
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    It's 'anadiplosis reduction' (don't bother looking the non-collocation up), almost totally non-standard and hence off-topic. – Edwin Ashworth May 08 '21 at 18:16
  • @Benjamin Harman You'll find no hits for 'cerulean and puce elephant', but one is still not banned from using the string. Or making such a model. // I was indicating that the odds are that there's no such term, whether simplex, compound, strong collocation or weak collocation. One has to describe it merely by sentential description. But it's a non-standard poetic device, something resembling a Jackson Pollock. – Edwin Ashworth May 09 '21 at 16:02
  • 'Enjambment' is the device of not fitting obvious strings onto lines, but overrunning onto the next line. However, unravelled into prose, the result is grammatical. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 29 '21 at 16:21
  • Here's another question that covers the second example's anadiplosis, which all the current answers are addressing. – lly Jul 28 '21 at 04:58
  • As mentioned by @cigien, this question is indeed the same question (albeit with different examples). It seems both questions were closed as duplicates at some point, but the question they were both marked as duplicates of does not describe the same poetic device (though there are certainly similarities). – varkor Jan 09 '24 at 15:02
  • Furthermore, the fact that the other question gives a second example indicates that calling it a "non-standard poetic device" would be an exaggeration. Rare, perhaps, but not unique. – varkor Jan 09 '24 at 15:10
  • @EdwinAshworth - Getting more results for "reduced anadiplosis" instead? – Malady Jan 11 '24 at 19:16

2 Answers2

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Enjambment, first noted here by Edwin Ashworth in a comment:

'Enjambment' is the device of not fitting obvious strings onto lines, but overrunning onto the next line. However, unravelled into prose, the result is grammatical. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 29, 2021 at 16:21

Malady
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    "I heard everything you said those things to try to get inside my head is full" is not grammatical as prose. Each line is a separate sentence that only makes sense if words from the previous line are duplicated. – Hactar Jan 09 '24 at 01:21
  • @Hactar - Wikipedia's examples are the same, so it's right according to that? – Malady Jan 09 '24 at 03:10
  • @Malady some of the examples are just noun phrases / sentence fragments. none of them seem to me to be "deduplicated" the way OP is asking about. which example were you thinking of? – awe lotta Jan 11 '24 at 16:38
  • @awelotta - I see what you mean. Now trying to find words the are sort of the opposite of anadiplosis. – Malady Jan 11 '24 at 18:45
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Gradatio

A type of poetic form in which the last word of one clause is used again at the beginning of the next.

I hadn’t heard this term - though I have used this technique in my poetry and songs.

I found a fascinating article online which has this term, as well as others such as anaphora, epimone, epistrophe, polyptoton and symploce, to feast your eyes on!

Gradatio also appears to refer to gradating statements which increase in importance or grandeur until a climax is achieved.

https://poemanalysis.com/literary-device/repetition/

Jelila
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    At least according to your source, the Coulton lines under discussion would not be gradatio; the Wanted's lyrics would be. Since the better term for that would be anadiplosis and the question was changed to explicitly exclude it, this doesn't answer the present question although you could add it as another answer to this one. – lly Jul 28 '21 at 04:54