With words so twisted

English syntax is impressively flexible. We can tie our sentences into linguistic knots and still pick out the meaning in them, which not all languages are capable of. Of course, this doesn't mean that we don't have a standard order of things. Here are some examples of the general rules of how to order clauses and sentences in English (see my posts on clauses and phrases if you need some more context):

• The subject of the clause comes before the action they perform.
• The object of the clause (if present) comes after the action performed upon it.
• Adjectives within a noun phrase come before the thing they describe.

When we mess about with these rules, even though the sentence is still quite understandable, it feels a bit odd. That's why we have a specific word for rearranging sentences like this: anastrophe. (You may also recognise it as "the way Yoda talks," hence why he appears in today's header image.)

The word "anastrophe" is derived from Greek, and it means to turn back or turn about. This is a pretty good description of what it does, which you can see in the examples listed below:

Upon the mountain stands Zorlax, the mighty hero.
[The mighty hero Zorlax stands upon the mountain.]

To you, my love, this box I give.
[I give this box to you, my love.]

The bouquet is full of violets red and roses blue.
[The bouquet is full of red violets and blue roses.]

In comparison to the more usual phrasing listed below each example, the anastrophe does literally flip the parts of the clauses around. The result is a heightening of the language which makes it sound poetic or melodramatic, whereas the versions with more standard syntax sound more prosaic and straightforward. The meaning doesn't change at all, but the effect the sentence has on the reader is very different when it uses anastrophe.

Where and why we use anastrophe

Anastrophe is commonly used as a poetic technique, as it allows poets to rearrange words to fit a particular metre or rhyme, as well as changing the emphasis of the statement through word placement. Shakespeare employed it constantly in his works ("to thine own self be true", "something wicked this way comes", "sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines"), to create emphasis and align with his use of iambic pentameter. I have also used anastrophe for the same reasons in some of my own more structured poetry, such as The Hike and Your Love's Refrain.

In prose-based works there is also a place for anastrophe, though it is perhaps not quite so prominent as in verse. It can be used to emphasise key dramatic moments, set a mood for a scene, heighten characters' emotions, and many other tasks; in the case of Yoda, it even provides a distinct voice for the character. Anastrophe pops up more frequently in certain genres, as it creates a stylised and high-drama tone which is perhaps more suited to gothic horror than to a modern slice-of-life or romance (relatedly, anastrophe is also less common in prose now than it was a century or two ago, because tastes have broadly changed to favour more direct and approachable writing styles over lushly exaggerated Romance).

However, just because it's not currently fashionable or associated with your genre does not at all mean you should avoid using anastrophe. In fact, if you're writing in a style that doesn't use a lot of poetic techniques, you can slip one in on occasion to much more effect than if you used them all the time. If you really want to make a certain location, character, event, or emotional beat stand out, anastrophe can be a good option for adding a bit of drama without doing a lot of extra work. Just make sure that you have a decent intuitive grasp of syntax before you start rearranging your sentences so that they continue to flow the way they should.