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The Figures of Rhetoric and of Musica Poetica

How to use the Table of Figures

Each entry contains the figure name, whether it is musical, literary, or both, its classification (see below), and a short definition. If the figure is highlighted as a link, you can click on it to get more information. For those figures that are both literary and musical, clicking the figure name link takes you to Silva rhetoricae for literary information. Clicking the M-link takes you to a page of musical definitions and examples.

Figures may be literary, musical, or both, and are identified as follows:

M musical figures
L literary figures
ML musical and literary figures

Classifications of the musical figures and their mnemonics:

MR figures of melodic repetition
HR figures of harmonic repetition, fugal figures
RD figures of representation and depiction
D figures of dissonance and displacement
IS figures of interruption and silence
MHO figures of melodic and harmonic ornamentation
O other figures

Sources

If you find this table of figures useful in your research, writing, or performing,
please be sure to cite these original sources of the information in your work.

BartelMP Bartel, Dietrich. Musica Poetica: Musical-Rhetorical Figures in German Baroque Music. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. xv, 471 p.
BuelMR Buelow, George. "Music and Rhetoric," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 15, ed. Stanley Sadie, pp. 793-803.
BurtSR Burton, Gideon O. The Forest of Rhetoric (Silva Rhetoricae) http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/silva.htm.
KronMR Krones, Hartmut. "Musik und Rhetorik," in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart 6 (1996), pp. 814-852. (Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik begründet von Friedrich Blume.) Zweite, neubearbeitete Ausgabe herausgegeben von Ludwig Finscher. Kassel Basel London New York Prag: Bärenreiter; Stuttgart Weimar: Metzler, 1998.
LanHR Lanham, Richard A. A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms: A Guide for Students of English Literature. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1969. 148 p.
MirRST Miriam Joseph, C.S.C., Sister. Rhetoric in Shakespeare's Time: Literary Theory of Renaissance Europe. New York and Burlingame: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1947, 1962. x, 421 p.
PremPEP Preminger, Alex, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Enlarged edition. Frank J. Warnke and O.B. Hardison, Jr., Associate Editors. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974. xxiv, 992 p.
SeidRMT Seidel, Wilhelm. "Rhythmus, Metrum, Takt," in Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart 8 (1998), pp. 257-317. (Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik begründet von Friedrich Blume.) Zweite, neubearbeitete Ausgabe herausgegeben von Ludwig Finscher. Kassel Basel London New York Prag: Bärenreiter; Stuttgart Weimar: Metzler, 1998.
SonnHR Sonnino, Lee A. A Handbook to Sixteenth-Century Rhetoric. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1968. ix, 278 p.
TuveEMI Tuve, Rosemond. Elizabethan & Metaphysical Imagery: Renaissance Poetic and Twentieth-Century Critics. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1947. xii, 436 p.


The Figures of Rhetoric and of Musica Poetica


    Name M/L Class Definition Equivalents Author
A 1 abissio L N/A the equivalent Latin term for apocope. BurtSR. apocope Isidore
  2 abominatio L N/A Latin term for bdelygma or apodioxis. BurtSR. bdelygmia, apodioxis N/A
  3 abruptio M IS a sudden stop in the music; a musical figure of silence. BartelMP.   Janovka, Kircher, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  4 abuse L N/A an anglicization of the Latin term abusio (catachresis). BurtSR. catachresis N/A
  5 acoloutha L N/A the substitution of reciprocal words; best understood in relation to its opposite, anacaloutha. BurtSR.   N/A
  6 accentus M MHO a preceding or succeeding upper or lower neightboring note, usually added to the written note by the performer. BartelMP. superjectio Bernhard, Mattheson Printz, Spiess, J.G. Walther
  7 acciaccatura M MHO an additional, dissonant note added to a chord, which is released immediately after its execution. BartelMP.   Mattheson, Spiess, J.G. Walther
  8 accismus L N/A a feigned refusal of that which is earnestly desired. BurtSR.   Bullinger
  9 accumulatio L N/A heaping up praise or accusation to emphasize or summarize points or inferences already made. LanHR.   Rhetorica ad Herennium
  10 acervatio L N/A to knit many things together of like natureÖand to separate contrary matters asunder. SonnHR. asyndeton, polysyndeton Peacham
  11 acrostic L N/A a poem in which the initial letters of each line have a meaning when read downward. PremPEP. alliteration, anaphora, abecedarian Bullinger
  12 acyrologia L N/A incorrect in phraseology; use of an inexact or illogical word; impropriety. LanHR, BurtSR. cacozelia, paronomasia Quintilian, Isidore, Susenbrotus, Sherry, Peacham
  13 acyron L N/A incorrect in phraseology; use of an inexact or illogical word; impropriety. LanHR, BurtSR. acyrologia, catechresis Quintilian, Isidore, Susenbrotus, Sherry, Peacham
  14 adage L N/A proverb. LanHR. a short, pithy saying. BurtSR. anamnesis N/A
  15 adhortatio L N/A exhortation or encouragement. LanHR. euche, eustathia TBD
  16 adianoeta L N/A an expression that has an obvious meaning and an unsuspected secret one beneath. LanHR. irony, allegory TBD
  17 adjudicatio L N/A adjudication. LanHR. epicrisis TBD
  18 adjunct L N/A same as adjunctio below. symploce Rhetorica ad Herennium
  19 adjunctio L N/A use of one verb to express two similar ideas at the beginning or end of successive clauses. LanHR. epizeugma Rhetorica ad Herennium
  20 admonitio L N/A reminding, recalling to mind, suggestion. LanHR. paraenesis TBD
  21 adnexio L N/A Binding to. LanHR. zeugma TBD
  22 adnominatio L N/A Two words of similar sound but different meaning brought together. LanHR. paronomasia, polyptoton TBD
  23 adynaton L N/A A stringing together of impossibilities; the confession that words fail us. LanHR. A declaration of impossibility, usually in terms of an exaggerated comparison. Sometimes, the expression of the impossibility of expression. BurtSR. adynata, impossibilia, aposiopesis TBD
  24 aequipollentia L N/A The addition, taking away or doubling of a negative and in opposing words. SonnHR. isodunamia Erasmus
  25 aeschrologia L N/A An expression that is deliberately either foul (such as crude language) or ill-sounding (such as from excessive alliteration). BurtSR. cacemphaton, paroemion TBD
  26 aetiologia L N/A giving a cause or reason. LanHR. A figure of reasoning by which one attributes a cause for a statement or claim made, often as a simple relative clause of explanation. BurtSR. redditio causae, anthypophora, apophasis, contrarium, enthymeme, prosapodosis, ratiocinatio TBD
  27 affirmation L N/A A kind of paralipsis in which one explicitly affirms the negative qualities that one then passes over; A general figure of emphasis that describes when one states something as though it had been in dispute or in answer to a question, though it has not been. BurtSR. cataphasis, affirmatio, paralipsis TBD
  28 aganactesis L N/A impassioned speech or loud, angry speaking. LanHR. indignatio, ecphonesis, exclamatio TBD
  29 aischrologia L N/A scurrilous jest; lewd allusion or double entendre; sounds combined for harsh effect. LanHR. cacemphaton, turpis locutio, foule speech TBD
  30 allegory L N/A speaking otherwise than one seems to speak; extending a metaphor through an entire speech or passage; one of four levels of interpretation, the others being literal, moral or tropological, and anagogical or spiritual. LanHR. A sustained metaphor continued through whole sentences or even through a whole discourse. BurtSR. inversio, false semblant, metaphor, simile, conceit, catachresis, parabola TBD
  31 alleotheta L N/A substitution of one case, gender, number, tense, or mood for another. LanHR. anthimeria, antiptosis, enallage, hendiadys TBD
  32 alliteration L N/A recurrence of an initial consonant or vowel sound. LanHR. Repetition of the same letter or sound within nearby words. Most often, repeated initial consonants. Note: The term "alliteratio" was coined by Giovanni Pontano in 1519 as a further specification of the term annominatio. Current usage of this term is in its most restricted sense (repeated initial consonants), aligning it with the vice known as homoeoprophoron or paroemion. BurtSR. paroemion, alloiosis, antithesis, hypallage, metonymy, homoeo-prophoron, acrostic TBD
  33 amara irrisio L N/A bitter laughing at; a bitter gibe or taunt. LanHR. sarcasmus TBD
  34 ambiguous L N/A Quintilian warns against the dangers of ambiguity in legal matters; a mean of emphasis; a vice; when one word can be understood in two or more senses; when it causes the speech to be obscure. SonnHR. amphibologia Rhetorica ad Herennium
  35 amphibologia L N/A see ambiguous immediately above. SonnHR. Ambiguity of grammatical structure, often occasioned by mispunctuation. BurtSR. ambiguous Rhetorica ad Herennium
  36 ampliatio L N/A Using the name of something or someone before it has obtained that name or after the reason for that name has ceased. A form of epitheton. BurtSR. epitheton, prolepsis TBD
  37 anabasis M RD an ascending musical passage which expresses ascending or exalted images or affections. BartelMP. ascensus Janovka, Kircher, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  38 anacephalaeosis L N/A a summary; an enumeration; recalling matters of the past. LanHR. A recapitulation of the facts. A kind of summary employed in the peroratio. BurtSR. anamnesis, enumeratio, accumulatio, complexio, epanodos, epiphonema, synathroesmus TBD
  39 anacoenosis L N/A communicate; take counsel with. LanHR. anachinosis, impartener, epitrope  
  40 anacoloutha L N/A TBD   TBD
  41 anacoluthon L N/A Inconsistent, anomalous. LanHR.   TBD
  42 anadiplosis LM MR L: word repetition for emphasis. M: a repetition of the ending of one phrase at the beginning of the following one. Musically, the anadiplosis may be a repetition of a mimesis. BartelMP. reduplicatio Ahle, Burmeister, Mattheson, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  43 analepsis M HR A repetition of a noema at the same pitch. BartelMP.   Burmeister, J.G. Walther
  44 anamnesis L N/A Remembrance; recalling matters of the past. LanHR. recordatio, enumeratio TBD
  45 anangeon L N/A Plea in defence; defending one's words or acts with reasonable excuses; excusing by necessity. LanHR. dicaeologia TBD
  46 anaphora LM MR L: the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of serveral successive sentences or sentence members. M: a. a repeating bassline; ground bass; b. a repetition of the opening phrase or motive in a number of successive passages; c. a general repetition. BartelMP. repetitio Ahle, Burmeister, Forkel, Janovka, Kircher, Mattheson, Nucius, Scheibe, Spiess, Thuringus, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  47 anaploce M HR A repetition of a noema, particularly between choirs in a polychoral composition. BartelMP.   Burmeister
  48 anapodoton L N/A omitting a main clause from a conditional sentence. LanHR.   TBD
  49 anastrophe L N/A turning back; an unusual arrangement of words or clauses within a sentence; a kind of hyperbaton. LanHR. perversio, reversio hyperbaton; cf. hysteron proteron TBD
  50 anemographia L N/A description of the wind Cf. prosopographia et al. TBD
  51 anesis L N/A TBD   TBD
  52 antanaclasis L N/A G. "reflection, bending back"; homonymic pun. LanHR. transplacement, anaclasis, rebounde, reciprocatio, refractio, ploce TBD
  53 antanagoge L N/A ameliorating a fault or difficulty implicitly admitted by balancing an unfavorable aspect with a favorable one. LanHR. compensatio, recompencer TBD
  54 antenantiosis L N/A G. " positive statement made in a negative form". LanHR. litotes TBD
  55 anthimeria L N/A G. "one part for another"; functional shift, using one part of speech for another. LanHR. enallage, alleotheta TBD
  56 anthropopatheia L N/A     TBD
  57 anthypophora L N/A G. "reply"; replying to anticipated objections. LanHR. hypophora, response TBD
  58 anticategoria L N/A mutual accusation or recrimination. LanHR. accusatio, concertativa TBD
  59 anticipatio M MHO an additional upper or lower neighboring note after a principal note, prematurely introducing a note belonging to the subsequent harmony or chord. BartelMP. praesumptio Bernhard, Scheibe, Spiess, J.G. Walther
  60 anticipation L N/A as anticipatio, G. "preconception". LanHR. procatalepsis TBD
  61 antilogy L N/A TBD   TBD
  62 antimetabole LM HR an inversion of the fugal theme. BartelMP; LanHR, 10, gives "inverting the order of repeated words to sharpen their senseÖ; chiasmus and commutatio sometimes imply a more precise balance and reversal, antimetabole a looser." hypallage; cf. chiasmus, commutatio, permutatio, counterchange Burmeister
  63 antimetathesis L N/A inversion of the order of elements in an antithesis. BurtSR.   TBD
  64 antiphrasis L N/A expression by the opposite; irony of one word, e.g., calling a "dwarf" a "giant". LanHR. broad floute TBD
  65 antiprosopopoeia L N/A TBD   TBD
  66 antiptosis L N/A G. "exchange of case"; substituting one case for another as the accusative for the dative. LanHR. casu pro casu, alleotheta TBD
  67 antirrhesis L N/A G. "refutation, counterstatement"; rejecting an argument because of its insignificance, error, or wickedness. LanHR.   TBD
  68 antisagoge L N/A contrasting evaluations; stating first one side of a proposition, then the other, with equal vigor. LanHR. compensatio TBD
  69 antistaechon M D a substituted dissonance for an expected consonance, usually the result of the melody remaining on the same pitch while the bass implies harmonic changes. BartelMP.   Spiess, Vogt
  70 antistasis L N/A G. "opposition"; repetition of a word in a different or contrary sense. LanHR. contentio TBD
  71 antisthecon L N/A substituting one letter or sound for another within a word. LanHR. transposition, metathesis, metaplasm TBD
  72 antistrophe LM HR an inversion of the fugal theme. hypallage Burmeister
  73 antithesis LM RD a musical expression of opposing affections, harmonies, or thematic material. antitheton, contrapositum Forkel, Janovka, Kircher, Mattheson, Scheibe, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  74 antitheton LM RD a musical expression of opposing affections, harmonies, or thematic material. BartelMP. antithesis, contrapositum Forkel, Janovka, Kircher, Mattheson, Scheibe, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  75 antonomasia L N/A G. "to use an epithet, patronymic, instaed of a proper name"; descriptive phrase for proper name or proper name for quality associated with it. LanHR. pronominatio, nominatio, surnamer TBD
  76 apagoresis L N/A TBD   TBD
  77 aphaeresis L N/A TBD   TBD
  78 aphorismus L N/A TBD   TBD
  79 apocarteresis L N/A TBD   TBD
  80 apocope LM D an omitted or shortened final note in one voice of a composition. BartelMP.   Burmeister, Thuringus, J.G. Walther
  81 apodioxis L N/A TBD   TBD
  82 apodixis L N/A TBD   TBD
  83 apologue L N/A TBD   TBD
  84 apophasis L N/A TBD   TBD
  85 apoplanesis L N/A TBD   TBD
  86 aporia L N/A TBD   TBD
  87 aposiopesis LM IS a rest in one or all voices of a composition; a general pause. BartelMP.   Burmeister, Spiess, Thuringus, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  88 apostrophe L N/A TBD   TBD
  89 apothegm L N/A TBD   TBD
  90 apotomia M D an enharmonic rewriting of a semitone. BartelMP.   Vogt, J.G. Walther
  91 appositio L N/A TBD   TBD
  92 ara L N/A TBD   TBD
  93 articulus L N/A TBD   TBD
  94 ascensus M RD an ascending musical passage which expresses ascending or exalted images or affections. BartelMP. anabasis Janovka, Kircher, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  95 aschematiston L N/A TBD   TBD
  96 asphalia L N/A TBD   TBD
  97 assimilatio M RD a musical representation of the text's imagery. BartelMP. homoiosis Janovka, Kircher
  98 assonance L N/A resemblance or similarity in sound between vowel-sound preceded and followed by differeing consonant-sounds in words in proximity. LanHR. alliteration, paronomasia TBD
  99 assumptio L N/A TBD   TBD
  100 asteismus L N/A G. "refined, witty talk"; facetious or mocking answer that plays on a word. LanHR. civill jest, merry scoffe, urbanitas TBD
  101 astrothesia L N/A TBD   TBD
  102 asyndeton LM D an omission of the appropriate conjunctions in a text. BartelMP; omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. LanHR. articulo, brachylogia, dialyton, dissolutio, loose language, dialelumenon Ahle
  103 auxesis LM MR successive repetitions of a musical passage which rise by step. BartelMP; G. "increase, amplification"; words or clauses placed in climactic order; opposite of meiosis. LanHR. incrementum, advancer, dirimens copulatio, progressio Burmeister, J.G. Walther
    Name M/L Class Definition Equivalents Author
B 104 barbarism L   as barbarismus (G. "foreign mode of speech"), unnatural words or mispronunciation; wrenched accent to fit meter or rhyme. LanHR. barbaralexis, forrein speech  
  105 battologia L        
  106 bdelygmia L   as bdelygma, G. "nausea, sickness; filth, nastiness"; expression of hatred, usually short. Lanham quotes Emilia to Othello (V, ii), "O gull! O dolt! As ignorant as dirt." LanHR. abominatio  
  107 benedictio L   G. "extolling, praising, lauding". LanHR. eulogia  
  108 bombi M MHO four identical notes in rapid succession. BartelMP. bombilans, bombus Printz, J.G. Walther
  109 bombilans M MHO four identical notes in rapid succession. BartelMP. bombi, bombus Printz, J.G. Walther
  110 bombus M MHO four identical notes in rapid succession. BartelMP. bombi, bombilans Printz, J.G. Walther
  111 bomphiologia L   G. "booming, buzzing words"; bombastic speech. LanHR. bomphilogia, pompous speech  
  112 brachylogia L   G. "brevity in speech or writing"; omission of conjunctions between words; brevity of diction; abbreviated construction. LanHR. asyndeton, cutted comma, praegnans constructio, ellipsis  
    Name M/L Class Definition Equivalents Author
C 113 cacemphaton L        
  114 cacosyntheton L        
  115 cacozelia L        
  116 cadentia duriuscula M D a dissonance in the pre-penultimate harmony of a cadence. BartelMP.   Bernhard
  117 catabasis M RD a descending musical passage which expresses descending, lowly, or negative images or affections. BartelMP. descensus Janovka, Kircher, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  118 catachresis LM        
  119 catacosmesis L        
  120 cataphasis L        
  121 cataplexis L        
  122 categoria L        
  123 celeritas M D a dissonant or passing note between two consonant ones, either on the strong or the weak beat. BartelMP. transitus, commissura, deminutio, symblema Bernhard, Burmeister, Kircher, Mattheson, Nucius, Scheibe, Thuringus, Walther
  124 cercar della nota M MHO various additions of lower neighboring notes. BartelMP. subsumptio, quaesitio notae Bernhard, J.G. Walther
  125 characterismus L        
  126 charientismus L        
  127 chiasmus L   G. "crossing"; derived from the Greek letter X (chi) whose shape, if the two halves of the construction are rendered in separate verses, it resembles. LanHR. antimetabole, commutatio  
  128 chorographia L        
  129 chreia L   G. "pregnant sentence or maxim, often illustrated by an anecdote"; short exposition of a deed or saying of a person whose name is mentioned; short rhetorical exercise in which a maxim or moral observation is developed and varied. LanHR.    
  130 chronographia L   G. "time-writing"; type of energia, or counterfait time; description of time as when Romeo says: "Look love, what envious streakes | Do lace the severing clouds in yonder East. | Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day | Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops." (Romeo and Juliet, III, v). LanHR.    
  131 circulatio M RD a series of usually eight notes in a circular or sine wave formation. BartelMP. circulo, kyklosis Janovka, Kircher, Mattheson, Printz, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  132 circulo M RD a series of usually eight notes in a circular or sine wave formation. BartelMP. circulatio, kyklosis Janovka, Kircher, Mattheson, Printz, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  133 circumlocutio L   As the name implies, "talking around" something, usually by supplying a descriptive phrase in place of a name (=periphrasis). Circumlocutions are rhetorically useful as euphemisms, as a method of amplification, or to hint at something without stating it. BurtSR. antonomasia, periphrasis, systrophe  
  134 climax LM MR 1) a sequence of notes in one voice repeated either at a higher or lower pitch; 2) two voices moving in ascending or descending parallel motion; 3) a gradual increase or rise in sound and pitch, creating a growth in intensity. BartelMP. Generally, the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance, often in parallel structure. More specifically, climax is the repetition of the last word of one clause or sentence at the beginning of the next, through three or more clauses or sentences. (The figure anadiplosis repeated three times with increasing semantic emphasis). BurtSR. gradatio, anadiplosis, auxesis, catacosmesis Ahle, Burmeister, Forkel, Janovka, Kircher, Nucius, Scheibe, Thuringus, Vogt, E. Walther
  135 coenotes L   Repetition of two different phrases: one at the beginning and the other at the end of successive paragraphs. Note: Composed of anaphora and epistrophe, coenotes is simply a more specific kind of symploce (the repetition of phrases, not merely words). BurtSR. symploce, anaphora, epistrophe  
  136 coloratura M MHO an ornamentation of a melodic passage with a variety of embellishments. BartelMP. variatio, diminutio, passaggio Bernhard, Janovka, Mattheson, Praetorius, Printz, Scheibe, Spiess, Vogt, J.G. Walther
  137 commissura M DD a dissonant or passing note between two consonant ones, either on the strong or the weak beat. BartelMP. transitus, celeritas, deminutio, symblema Bernhard, Burmeister, Kircher, Mattheson, Nucius, Scheibe, Thuringus, Walther
  138 commoratio L        
  139 communicatio L        
  140 comparatio L        
  141 complexio LM MR      
  142 complexus M MR a musical passage which repeats its opening phrase at its conclusion. BartelMP. complexio, symploce Janovka, Kircher, Nucius, Thuringus, Walther
  143 comprobatio L        
  144 conceit L        
  145 concessio L        
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