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The cockroach general paced across a spotless kitchen floor. Even in the dim green glow of the nightlight, it gleamed. His nervous troops shuffled on the uncomfortably clean floor. Supplies were low, and the terrain barren and hostile. Troop morale was worse. This army was his vision, his dream. It was up to him to hold it together.
He stopped at front and center of the rows of twitching insects and barked out, "ATTEN-SHUN! ANTENNAE-FRONT!"
The ranks straightened out and pointed their antennae forwards.
"Roaches! We have come upon hard times. These are our brightest hours, when we are faced with a foe so terrible, so tidy, it makes a roach's haemolymph flow cold.
"But we shall not give in to despair! Even though large parts of the House, including many ancient and famous heaps of Refuse have fallen before the broom and mop of the Bride, even though mounds of Dirty Laundry are now menaced by the tide of Tide and the fragrant apparatus of the laundry machine, we shall not falter. We shall infest the kitchen, we shall infest behind the stove and the countertop. We shall infest with growing numbers and growing stench in the air, we shall contaminate this house, whatever the cost may be. We shall infest the cupboards and the pantry, we shall infest the carpet, we shall infest under the lineoleum, we shall infest the basement and the attic, we shall infest the bathroom -- " his chittering rose to a fevered squeak as he reached the anaphoric crescendo of his speech, " -- we shall never surrender!"
A switch flicked on, and brilliant light flooded the kitchen. A woman shrieked. Roaches scattered to the safety of darkness underneath the refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove.
"I don't care how you feel about pesticides, Jim! We are hiring an exterminator!" the woman screeched.
Beneath the refrigerator, the general huddled with his troops. "... we might, however, make the occasional strategic withdrawal."
anaphora (noun): The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs. Source: The Free Dictionary.
Bard menaced me with this word on Tuesday. Ironically, Tuesday’s story employed the concept of anaphora but didn’t contain the actual word. "Anaphoric" is the adjective form – "pertaining to anaphora".
He stopped at front and center of the rows of twitching insects and barked out, "ATTEN-SHUN! ANTENNAE-FRONT!"
The ranks straightened out and pointed their antennae forwards.
"Roaches! We have come upon hard times. These are our brightest hours, when we are faced with a foe so terrible, so tidy, it makes a roach's haemolymph flow cold.
"But we shall not give in to despair! Even though large parts of the House, including many ancient and famous heaps of Refuse have fallen before the broom and mop of the Bride, even though mounds of Dirty Laundry are now menaced by the tide of Tide and the fragrant apparatus of the laundry machine, we shall not falter. We shall infest the kitchen, we shall infest behind the stove and the countertop. We shall infest with growing numbers and growing stench in the air, we shall contaminate this house, whatever the cost may be. We shall infest the cupboards and the pantry, we shall infest the carpet, we shall infest under the lineoleum, we shall infest the basement and the attic, we shall infest the bathroom -- " his chittering rose to a fevered squeak as he reached the anaphoric crescendo of his speech, " -- we shall never surrender!"
A switch flicked on, and brilliant light flooded the kitchen. A woman shrieked. Roaches scattered to the safety of darkness underneath the refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove.
"I don't care how you feel about pesticides, Jim! We are hiring an exterminator!" the woman screeched.
Beneath the refrigerator, the general huddled with his troops. "... we might, however, make the occasional strategic withdrawal."
anaphora (noun): The deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, clauses, or paragraphs. Source: The Free Dictionary.
Bard menaced me with this word on Tuesday. Ironically, Tuesday’s story employed the concept of anaphora but didn’t contain the actual word. "Anaphoric" is the adjective form – "pertaining to anaphora".
