Chiasmus:
Chiasmus is a rhetorical device in which two or more clauses are balanced against each other by the reversal of their structures in order to produce an artistic effect.
Let us try to understand chiasmus with the help of an example:
“Never let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You.”
Notice that the second half of this sentence is an inverted form of the first half, both grammatically and logically. In the simplest sense, the term chiasmus applies to almost all “criss-cross” structures, and this is a concept that is common these days. In its strict classical sense, however, the function of chiasmus is to reverse grammatical structure or ideas of sentences, given that the same words and phrases are not repeated. [Literary Devices]
I’ll never remember this one. Noted in an emailed joke, courtesy my Arts Editor, which I will outtake:
Falling slowly, softly falling, the chiasmus collapses to the bar floor.
