Do you know what is one palindrome? It is a sound figure, this is a figure of speech which contributes to the greater expressiveness of a text. This stylistic feature consists of words, phrases, expressions, and even numbers that are literally the same read from right to left and vice versa.
Of Greek origin, “palin” (new) plus “dromo” (circuit, path), the word “palindrome” is also known as anacyclic, since the words make their own cycle, or that is, they are words that remake, inversely, their reading cycle – words that are read from right to left and vice versa.
Some words and numbers, like aniline, deserve it, 2002 and 909, are natural palindromes, that is, they exist without anyone having created them with palindromic intent. In addition to natural palindromes, there are artificial ones, that is, words and expressions that were intentionally created based on palindromic logic.
Examples:
- "V-neckline: I veto early. (Carlos Drummond de Andrade)
- "Laughs, I just had bad luck, I avoid going out." (Sergio Igres)
- "Die after the brown soup"
Like figure of speech that is, the palindrome is very explored by poets, composers, since they collaborate, and a lot, to meaning effects desired by the author in his works, thus highlighting the peculiarities of each author.
There are several musicians who take risks with palindromes, and a successful example is a work by Bártok. In this song, the composer presents a sequence of sections without a clear structure, and from the middle of the work onwards, the same sections are re-presented in the opposite order:
THE |
B |
Ç |
D |
Ç |
B |
THE |
Palindrome in Bártok's composition
Rafael Fonseca highlights some peculiarities of Bartók's work, showing that logic reflective and repeating, represented by the palindromic sequence ABCDCBA, it gave rise to one of the most outstanding works of classical music:
“After 2 years without composing a single note, Bartók seems to have merged into this composition everything he had experienced before [...] Does he take advantage of the concert language, treating the instruments? in a certain way? as soloists, but actually what Bartók does is open a panel in which concertante language? to agree, disagree, repeat and change? it serves as a translation for aspects of your life. It is not by chance that the work comprises a melting pot of forces, some of them suited to the extraordinary musicality of their time, others reflective, and even mockery (in an excerpt that refers to a theme used earlier by Shostakovich in his Symphony n. 7).”
(Rafael Fonseca - Guide to the Classics Accessed on: 01/29/2016)
To better visualize the palindrome, let's see some words in Portuguese that follow this logic:
- Most omissive (largest palindromic word in our language)
- Bone
- Radar
- Reread
- To laugh
- punches
- egg
- grate
- Revive
- Little
- He
Although rarer, there are good examples of phrases palindromics:
- "The grass is bitter." (Millôr Fernandes)
- "The miss is terrible."
- "The diva in Algiers makes my life happy."
- "Sator arepo tenet operates routes." (The diligent farmer knows the path of the plow.) - one of the oldest and most well-known palindromes in Latin.
- "The suitcase swims in the mud." (Marine Romulus)
- "The base of the roof collapses." (Marine Romulus)
- "Dry with rage, I put caviar and sweets in my lap." (Marine Romulus)
- "Your drama is to love Duet." (Marine Romulus)
- "Love the poem."
We note, from these examples, that palindromes are more common than we imagined, however, they go unnoticed. For poets, however, this stylistic resource is a tool that enables success in their work. Claude Gagnière, French poet, compared the palindrome to “a kind of happiness in its pure state: it is the phrase mirror, the perfection in symmetry […] the entry into the magic circle of words that have no end.”.
Now that we know what a palindrome is, let's get to work!
“It doesn't matter which direction it reads
whether to the right or to the left
Ana will always be her
The most beautiful girl to walk the earth "
[Song “Palíndromo” by Vinícius de Souza]
by Mariana Pacheco
Graduated in Letters
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/portugues/o-que-e-palindromo.htm
