We celebrate the yo-yo on June 6th with National Yo-Yo Day, and it brought to mind the chiasmus literary device. Read on to learn more about it – you will be surprised to know that you have heard it before, many times actually!
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Poetic Sundays: The Art of the Yo-Yo: Play Poetry with Chiasmus
Have you ever played with a yo-yo or watched it dance up and down its string, spinning out and snapping back with a rhythm all its own? Poetry can do something very similar through a clever device called chiasmus.
Chiasmus is a poetic device where ideas or words are repeated in reverse order to create a mirrored, crisscross effect. It’s the perfect “yo-yo move” for language — throwing out a thought and pulling it back in a new way.
Note: If this reminds you of another device called antimetabole, that’s perfectly fine! All antimetaboles are chiasmus, but not all chiasmus are antimetabole.
Examples:
- “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” — John F. Kennedy
- “Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” — John F. Kennedy (again!)
- “Never let a fool kiss you or a kiss fool you.” — Unknown
- “You can take the boy out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the boy.”
Just like a yo-yo spins out and returns along the same string, chiasmus moves a thought forward, then pulls it back—often with a twist in meaning.
✍️ How to Write Your Own
- Pick two connected ideas or words (like rise/fall, give/take).
- Write one line in one order.
- Reverse the order in the next line, adding a new meaning or twist. Basically, mirrored, rephrased, or reconsidered.
- Feel free to add rhyme or rhythm to make it dance!
You can make the chiasmus a pivotal part of your poem instead of having it everywhere. See my attempt below that I wrote with inspiration from a previous attempt for a different prompt here.
My Attempt
(the chiasmus in bold italics below)
The Craft That Crafts Me
Here is hoping
that doing what I love, and loving what I do,
spins purpose from passion, joy from what’s true.
I dream wide awake, I speak through the page—
my thoughts find their rhythm, my soul finds its stage.
The pull of the moment, the push of the muse—
they whisper to me—go on, write! What’s your excuse?
So I dream with eyes open, let thought scatter in lines,
seeking the signs within signs.
Thus I chase my art, and my art chases me too,
by doing what I love, and loving what I do.
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites
Recently
At Home and On My Blog and Elsewhere
Posts that made their way out here since my last scribblings.
- Sunday Scribblings #225: The Hole Truth: On Buckets and Poems!
- 13 Books with Animals in the Title to Love
- Making Magic: 5 Ways to Let Your Creativity Dance!
- 20+ Beautiful Picture-Perfect Books for Grads and Dads!
It has been a couple of hot days here – like summer blazing through our area! So have mostly stayed indoors trying to keep cool.
Upcoming
On My Blog & Homefront
A couple of posts hopefully…
Celebrations This Week For Us
Literary Celebrations (close-to-it also!)
- Birthdays this week include: Thomas Hardy and Dorothy West on June 2nd; Allen Ginsberg and Larry McMurtry on the 3rd of June; Robert Fulghum on June 4th; Gayle Forman, Ken Follett, and Rick Riordan on the 5th; Alexander Pushkin, Sarah Dessen, and Thomas Mann on the 6th of June; Elizabeth Bowen, Gwendolyn Brooks, Louise Erdrich, and Nikki Giovanni on June 7th; Gillian Clarke on the 8th
Foodie Celebrations
- National Rocky Road Day is on the 2nd of June
- The 3rd of June observes National Chocolate Macaroons Day, and National Egg Day
- June 4th is National Cheese Day as well as National Cognac Day
- The 5th of June is for National Gingerbread Day, National Moonshine Day, and National Veggie Burger Day
- While June 6th is National Applesauce Cake Day as well as National Doughnut Day and National Cider Day(first Friday in June)
- June 7th is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day and it is ice cream weather right now.
Other Celebrations
- The 2nd of June is National Bubba Day
- June 3rd is World Bicycle Day, Chimborazo Day, and National Repeat Day
- Followed by National SAFE Day and National Hug Your Cat Day on the 4th of June
- Then, on the 5th of June, we observe Thank You Day and World Environment Day
- And like I mentioned already, it is National Yo-Yo Day on the 6th
- World Caring Day is on the 7th of June
- The 7th, being the first Saturday in June, is also National Black Bear Day, National Bubbly Day, National Prairie Day, and National Trails Day
- While the 8th has a couple cool days like National Best Friends Day and National Upsy Daisy Day
- It is also World Brain Tumor Day and World Oceans Day on the 8th of June
Wrapped Up: My Sunday Scribblings
So dear reader, you have reached the end of this Sunday Scribblings! As always, I welcome your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about this post. And do let me know if you plan to celebrate any of these mentioned celebrations this coming week/month?
Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon
This brings back fond memories of playing with a yoyo. I like the way that you put it together with writing.
This is a fabulous poem. I wish I could use a yo yo. I am so bad with it. I once smacked myself in the head with one. Oops.
You’ve written such a beautiful poem. I was never good at playing with a yo-yo. I always dropped it.
You explained chiasmus in such a fun and easy-to-follow way. It made me want to go try writing a few myself. Thanks for turning something so technical into something creative and inspiring.