Syntax is the arrangement of words and phrases in a line or sentence to create grammatical meaning and shape a poem's movement. Poets may follow ordinary word order or bend it through inversion, repetition, fragmenting, or long, winding sentences to change emphasis, pace, mood, or sound.
Example
Over the hill, slowly came the rain;
into the fields it wandered, silver and cold.
Normal order might say: "The rain came slowly over the hill,"
but the reversed syntax puts emphasis on "Over the hill" and "slowly."
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Related Definitions
[n] the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences
[n] studies of the rules for forming admissible sentences
[n] a systematic orderly arrangement