Rhetorical Device: Chiasmus

Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which similar concepts are repeated within a similar grammatical structure, though the same words are not necessarily repeated (that would be antimetabole). It is a form of inverted parallelism; a parallelism of thought or idea rather than of word or rhyme. Everything is said twice, and in the repetition, the ideas are presented in reverse order. Chiasmus gets its name from the Greek word 'chi' (X).

Chiasmus is useful for orators because it creates an element of surprise and can help to emphasize a memorable phrase or point. It is usually employed to emphasize a strong moral point or to add textual symmetry or visual balance. By using chiasmus, orators can easily grab the audience's attention and convey the importance of their message.

Examples

Rise, O Jehovah! save me, my God. Because Thou hast smitten All mine enemies [on] the cheek. The teeth of the wicked Thou hast broken. Of Jehovah [is] this salvation; On Thy people [is] Thy blessing! Selah. Psalms 3:7-8, "Holy Bible (Young's Literal Translation)"

Here is the same Bible verse laid out so that you can see the parallelism more easily:

Rise, O Jehovah!
  save me,
    my God. Because
      Thou hast smitten
        All mine enemies
          [on] the cheek.
          The teeth
        of the wicked
      Thou hast broken.
    Of Jehovah
  [is] this salvation;
On Thy people [is] Thy blessing! Selah. Psalms 3:7-8, "Holy Bible (Young's Literal Translation)"

By day the frolic, and the dance by night. Samuel Johnson, "The Vanity of Human Wishes" (1794)

The goodness that is cheap in beauty makes beauty brief in goodness,..William Shakespeare, "Measure for Measure, Act 3 Scene 1"