Inversion
Inversion is a reversal of the usual pattern. In poetry, it most often means either an unexpected change in normal word order for emphasis or a reversal in meter, such as starting an iambic line with a stressed-unstressed pair instead of the expected unstressed-stressed pattern.
Poets use inversion to create emphasis, fit a metrical pattern, or draw attention to a particular word or sound.
Example
Soft falls the rain upon the garden wall,
Then brightens dawn to wake the silent street.
Related Definitions
[n] the act of turning inside out
[n] turning upside down; setting on end
[n] the reversal of the normal order of words
[n] (genetics) a kind of mutation in which the order of the genes in a section of a chromosome is reversed
[n] the layer of air near the earth is cooler than an overlying layer
[n] abnormal condition in which an organ is turned inward or inside out (as when the upper part of the uterus is pulled into the cervical canal after childbirth)
Related Terms
about-face, addition, approximation, differentiation, division, equation, evolution, extrapolation, integration, interpolation, involution, multiplication, notation, practice, proportion, reduction, reversal, reverse, reversion, subtraction, transformatio