The asyndeton is a literary figure that implies the omission of conjunctions or links between the elements of a sentence . For example:
Swoon, dare, be furious,
harsh, tender, liberal, elusive,
encouraged, deadly, deceased, alive,
loyal, traitorous, cowardly, and spirited .
(Lope de Vega)
This stylistic device seeks to speed up the rhythm of the sentences through voluntary omission and generates a dramatic effect that gives greater expressive force and fluidity to what is said.
Deleted links and conjunctions are replaced by a comma to cause a pause between words.
The asyndeton is opposed to the polysyndeton , that literary figure that appeals to the use of unnecessary links and conjunctions for aesthetic purposes.
- See also: Rhetorical figures
Examples of sentences with asyndeton
- We had everything, little, nothing.
- I saw her, I smiled, I was silent, I fled.
- The hours, the days, the months, the years go by.
- I arrived, arrived; I looked, looked; I smiled, smiled.
- Boys run, play, fight.
- Sing, laugh, dream, come with me, calm my sorrow. (Pedro Del Castillo)
- The sky, starry, illuminated, but desolate.
- Beautiful, naive, cheerful, but distant.
- I get closer, you go away; I look at you, you ignore me.
- The government of the people, by the people, for the people. (Abraham Lincoln)
- I love you from here to the sun, to infinity, always.
- To love, to love until you die.
- On the ground, in smoke, in dust, in shadow, in nothing. (Luis de Góngora)
- I breathe, I live, I walk, I die slowly.
- Our leader, brave, strong, but also smart.
- You go, I come; you forget, I remember.
- Their faces lit up, sweaty, hopeful.
- His presence is peace, silence, tranquility; its absence, the emptiness.
- I laugh, he laughs; I love, he swims.
- Come, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered. (Julius Caesar)
- I loved, I cried, I forgot.
- Children cry, laugh, sleep, dream.
- Run, run, forget.
- His absence hurts, it reveals.
- Work, move, shake to eat! Hit that bomb, sweat, strive to catch the air you have to breathe! […] How chaste, how mysterious, how full of sweet modesty is the laziness of man always! (Gustavo Adolfo Becquer)
