All The More Reason

Seize the moment, but take care not to let the future seize you.

The previous sentence might be arguably a version of antimetabole. I am such a fan of antimetabole that I’ve mentioned it before on this very blog. There is power in repetition and redundancy. For example, we do have two eyes just in case one decides to quit on us. We have two of other things too. I’ve been thinking of antimetabole today as I’ve just come from assisting at the wedding of a good friend of mine. I suppose that a true antimetabolic phrase would finish as “not to let the moment seize you“. Still it is of great fascination to me that these celebrations can only by their very nature last for a brief period of time, and yet one hopes that it sets the tone for the years to come. I don’t feel that my powers of articulation are capable at this moment in describing how it is that the shortness of a wedding and the hopeful length of a successful marriage matches the quality of reversing the clauses in a phrase, but I do feel that the relationship exists between the two.

J.S.