Sentence inversion, sometimes called “hyperbation” is when
the normal grammatical word order is reversed. It can be a single word or a group of
words. Poets use inversion to force their poetry to rhyme, to make it fit into the
meter, to emphasize their themes, to focus attention on specific elements such as
characters or characters’ motives (as in this poem), or to interrupt the flow of the
narrative to grab the reader’s attention. There are different types of inversion or
hyperbation: anastrophe, hypallage and hysteron proteron. Examples are as
follows:
Anastrophe: “the sun brilliant shown all day”
(normal order would be “the brilliant sun shown all
day”
Hypallage: “dark walking in the slow night” (normal
order would be “slow walking in the dark night”)
Hysteron
proteron: “I conquered, I saw, I came” (normal order would be “I came, I saw, I
conquered”)
If you examine some of the inverted lines in
My Last Duchess, you will see that Browning employs many of these
devices to focus attention on various elements of the Duke’s dramatic monologue. These
manipulations of language help us discern what type of character the Duke is – an
egomaniac. For example:
But to myself they turned (since none
puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but
I)
We see here
that the Duke puts the emphasis on himself a great deal when he is talking about his
“last duchess”.
Or, in this example, we see how he treated
his wife like a belonging, because he is showing off HER picture, yet the word order
indicates that the person viewing the picture is more important than the picture of the
woman:
for never read
Strangers
like you that pictured
countenance,
Go
through the poem and look for other examples. You will find that the words that occur
first receive the emphasis. Then ask youself why the poet does this in this particular
case. It will help you appreciate the artistry of the poem and help you understand the
psychology of the Duke.
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