What is Hyperbaton? Hyperbaton is a figure of speech in which the typical, natural order of words is changed as certain words are moved out of order. The word hyperbaton (pronounced hahy-pur-buh-ton) is derived from the Greek phrase hyperbatos meaning “transposed” or “inverted.”

Is Hyperbaton a literary device?

Hyperbaton, (Greek: “transposed” or “inverted”) a transposition or inversion of usual word order. The device is often used in poetry, as in line 13 from Canto II of Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock (1712–14): “Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike.”

Is Hyperbaton a figure of speech?

Hyperbaton /haɪˈpɜːrbətɒn/, in its original meaning, is a figure of speech in which a phrase is made discontinuous by the insertion of other words. In modern usage, the term is also used more generally for figures of speech that transpose sentences' natural word order, and it is also called an anastrophe.