Chiasmus ('kigh-AZ-muss') is a literary device used to highlight an idea through the use of mirrored symmetry. An idea is developed either by presenting the same information twice, with the order reversed, or by comparing two things in nested, parallel order. Further, the most important information is generally presented at the center or innermost part of the chiasmus.
Let's look at a couple of examples:
The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
Here, the ABB'A' chiasmus is presented in a single line, and we see the first/last pair from the first half of the sentence reversed as last/first in the second half of the sentence. This is used to emphasize or reinforce a point being made: things aren't the way you expect them to be.
Here's the same example spread out over multiple lines with a central idea:
Those who would be first in the kingdom
Shall be last
In the kingdom of heaven
But those who put themselves last
Shall be first in the kingdom.
Here, using ABCB'A', we are drawn to "the kingdom of heaven" as the main idea, surrounded by the same first/last, last/first reversal. So we're comparing those who would be first (powerful) to those who are last (the lowly/humble) from the kingdom's perspective.
Here's another, where the central idea is a comparison of two things (ABCC'B'A'):
For the righteous,
there will be joyous celebration
in heaven,
but in Sheol,
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
for the wicked.
Here, heaven and Sheol are compared: what they will be like, and who will be there.
The chiasmus is employed in Aramaic and Hebrew writings in the Old Testament, and also in Greek writings in the New Testament, but it is often hard to spot, especially when contained in the prose of a letter. Paul makes extensive use of this literary device in 1 Corinthians, as does Mark in his gospel, but you may never have noticed it.
The formatting introduced in poetry makes this much easier to spot.
I've been thinking it would be interesting to experiment with this, and also to pair it with rhyme. That is certainly not a requirement of chiasmus. Meter is not a requirement either, and in fact, it is common for the second part of a chiasmus to be an expansion of an idea presented in top half of the chiasmus:
There will be eating and drinking
at the banquet table;
there will be much fine food and ever-flowing wine.
A simple rhyming chiasmus might look something like:
Launching like a flare,
soaring, joyful mirth,
slowing to a stall,
weightless in midair.
Descending in slow fall,
screaming back to earth,
crashing with a prayer.
In this ABCDC'B'A' chiasmus, the rhyming scheme employed is ABCACBA.
I also added a poem, I will be with you: chiasmus, that utilizes rhyming in an ABCDD'C'B'A'.
The chiasmus does not dictate a particular form, and you can probably think of many forms that could support it. You might think of a haiku, with its 5/7/5, as making a good ABA' chiasmus, but that really breaks the idea of the haiku, where the last line is to be a surprise or seemingly unrelated idea. A Tristich probably works better for an ABA'.
A Quatrain can be well suited: the ABBA form could hold an ABB'A' chiasmus.
Your imagination can run wild with other rhyme schemes as well.
So I wondered if anyone out here in Souplandia had experimented with these before? I would also love some comments and feedback. Thought it was interesting, and hope you might find it so too!