Quora Answer: What are Some Examples of Isocolon?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What are some examples of isocolon?” 

An isocolon is a rhetorical device involving a succession of phrases, or clauses of  equal length, in terms of syllables.  In this case, the sentences have a parallel structure consisting of words, clauses, or phrases of equal length, sound, metre, and rhythm, as a grammatical form.  If there are two sentences, or phrases, then it is a bicolon; if there a three, then it is a tricolon.  Four sentences or phrases of similar length is known as a tetracolon or a quatrain.  Isocolon is the repetition of similar grammatical forms. 

An example of a bicolon would be President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s inauguration speech, on the 20^th January 1961, where he said, “… ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”  This is also a chiasmus. 

An example of a tricolon would be Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote, “Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn.” 

An example of a quatrain would be this passage from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”: 

“The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide,

And I am next of kin;

The guests are met, the feast is set:

May’st hear the merry din.”