Clavis Libri

Literary device

Parallelism

Phrases or verses following one another with the same construction, so that the reader compares what changes from one to the next.

In Romeo and Juliet

Death is my son-in-law, Death is my heir

The two clauses repeat the same structure, "death is my son-in-law, death is my heir," and accumulate what death has taken. The echoing construction gives the sentence the rhythm of a lament.

Act IV: The potion of apparent death, Capulet