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Isocolon is a rhetorical scheme in which parallel elements possess the same number of words or syllables. As in any form of parallelism, the pairs or series must enumerate like things to achieve symmetry.^[1] The scheme is called bicolon, tricolon, or tetracolon depending on whether they are two, three, or four parallel elements.^[2]

Etymology

The term, a compound of ἴσος ísos 'equal' and κῶλον kôlon 'member, clause' was used in the classical Greek rhetorical literature:

...εἶδος δὲ τοῦ παρομοίου τὸ ἰσόκωλον, ἐπὰν ἴσας ἔχῃ τὰ κῶλα τὰς συλλαωάς...
Under the heading of symmetry of members comes equality of members, which occurs when the members contain an equal number of syllables...

— pseudo-Demetrius of Phalerum, Περὶ ἑρμηνείας (On Style)^[3]

The Greek plural is 'isocola', but 'isocolons' is also used in English.^[4]

Bicolon

An example of bicolon is the advertising slogan "buy one, get one free" (you pay for one item but you get another free).^[2]

In Biblical poetry it is standard to see a pair of adjacent lines of poetry in which the second echoes the meaning of the first.^[5] This can be considered a bicolon.^[5]^{[need quotation to verify]} For example:

When Israel went out of Egypt, * the house of Jacob from a barbarous people:

Judea made his sanctuary, * Israel his dominion.

The sea saw and fled: * Jordan was turned back.

The mountains skipped like rams, * and the hills like the lambs of the flock.

What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou didst flee: * and thou, O Jordan, that thou wast turned back?

Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, * and ye hills, like lambs of the flock?

At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, * at the presence of the God of Jacob:

Who turned the rock into pools of water, * and the stony hill into fountains of waters.

—Psalm 113:1-8 (Psalm 114 Hebrew)

Tricolon

Veni, vidi, vici

— (Julius Caesar)

"I came; I saw; I conquered."^[6]

A tricolon that comprises parts in increasing size, magnitude or intensity is called a tricolon crescens, or an ascending tricolon.^[7] Tricolon can sometimes be a hendiatris.

Similarly, tricolon that comprises parts that decrease in size, magnitude, intensity, or word length is called a tricolon diminuens, or a descending tricolon.

Abraham Lincoln used tricolon in many of his speeches.^{[citation needed]} His Gettysburg Address has the following phrase: "We cannot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow..."^[8] Lincoln wrote in his second inaugural address, "with malice toward none, with charity toward all, with firmness in the right...".^[9]

Winston Churchill used the tricolon frequently, as in his June 1941 speech regarding the German invasion of the Soviet Union, when he stated "It is a war in which the whole British Empire and Commonwealth of Nations is engaged without distinction of race, creed or party."^[10]

Repeating the same thing multiple times is a special case of an isocolon, as a way of saying that only one thing is important, and it is very important. In about 1500, when Louis XII asked Giangiacopo Trivulzio what was necessary to win the war against Ludovico Sforza, Trivulzio answered: "Three things, Sire, Money, money, money!"^[11] In the 20th century, the cliché "Location, location, location" was said to enumerate the three most important attributes of real property. This phrase appears in print in Chicago as early as 1926,^[12] but is nonetheless frequently credited, incorrectly, to the British real estate magnate Lord Harold Samuel.^[13]^[14] British Prime Minister Tony Blair set out his priorities for office in 1997 with "Education, education, education".^[15]

Tetracolon

Tetracola are sometimes called "quatrains" (cf. the usual meaning of quatrain).^[5]

An example of a tetracolon may be cited from a poem by Gabriele D'Annunzio:^[2]

Era calcina grossa, e poi era terra cotta, e poi pareva bronzo, e ora è cosa viva.
("It was raw mortar, and then it was terra cotta, and then it seemed like bronze, and now it is a living thing.")

Another example can be cited from Richard II, by Shakespeare^[16]^[17]

I’ll give my jewels for a set of beads,
My gorgeous palace for a hermitage,
My gay apparel for an almsman’s gown,
My figured goblets for a dish of wood.

Special cases

A special type of collocation known as an irreversible binomial is a bicolon that is both short and so well known that it becomes a fixed expression. Not all irreversible binomials are bicolons or tricolons, however. Irreversible binomials generally consist of only a few words at most.

Examples of irreversible binomials that are bicolons or tricolons:

smoke and mirrors
alive and kicking
cloak and dagger
command and control
each and every
part and parcel
lie, cheat, or steal
name it and claim it
rank and file
signed, sealed, and delivered
tic-tac-toe
finders, keepers; losers, weepers
carpe diem, carpe noctem, carpe vitam
in vino veritas, in aqua sanitas
brain and brawn
meat and potatoes
rape and pillage
divide and conquer
tall, dark, and handsome
pins and needles
brains and beauty
rock and roll
spick and span
chalk and cheese

Examples of irreversible binomials that are not^[why?] bicolons or tricolons:

lost and found
between the devil and the deep blue sea
between a rock and a hard place
double trouble (a verb and noun)
high crimes and misdemeanors
over and done with
Skull and crossbones
sugar and spice and everything nice

References

Citations

^ Corbett and Connors, 1999. p. 45
^ ^a ^b ^c Dizionario di retorica e stilistica, UTET, Toino, 2004. ISBN 9788877508850
^ W. Rhys Roberts, Demetrius On Style, Cambridge, 1902, p. 80, at Archive.org
^ Google ngrams frequency chart of isocola vs. isocolons
^ ^a ^b ^c Tremper Longman, Peter Enns, Dictionary of the Old Testament: wisdom, poetry & writings 3, p. 520
^ Forsyth, 2014. p. 98
^ Latina ad Vitam: Poetry Device of the Day: Tricolon Crescens
^ "Gettysburg address delivered at Gettysburg Pa. Nov. 19th, 1863. [n. p. n. d.]". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
^ "Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address - Lincoln Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. April 18, 2020. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
^ Borup-Nielsen, Grå (2000). Collected Essays. University Press of America. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7618-1635-5. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
^ John Aikin, William Johnston, General Biography, 1814, p. 477
^ On Language: Location, Location, Location Safire, William; 26 June 2009.
^ Brodie, Sophie (14 November 2007). "It's location, location, location for Land Secs". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
^ Safire, William (2009-06-26). "Location, Location, Location". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
^ Coughlan, Sean (14 May 2007). "'Education, education, education'". BBC News Online. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ Brandreth, Benet (2021-03-25). Shakespearean Rhetoric: A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors, Students and Teachers. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-350-08798-9.
^ "Isocolon - Definition and Examples of Isocolon". Literary Devices. 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2021-04-23.

Sources

Baldrick, Chris. 2008. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford University Press. New York. ISBN 978-0-19-920827-2
Corbett, Edward P. J. and Connors, Robert J. 1999. Style and Statement. Oxford University Press. New York, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-511543-0
Kennedy, X.J. et al. 2006. The Longman Dictionary of Literary Terms: Vocabulary for the Informed Reader. Pearson, Longman. New York. ISBN 0-321-33194-X
Forsyth, Mark. 2014. The Elements of Eloquence. Berkley Publishing Group/Penguin Publishing. New York. ISBN 978-0-425-27618-1
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.