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Refrain
Poe
oetic
tic FForms
orms Tha
Thatt Include R
Refr
efrains
ains
DEFINITION Although refrains can be used in any type of poetry, some fixed forms
What is a refrain? Here’s a quick and simple definition: of poetry require the writer to include a refrain. Below is a list of types
of poems that, by virtue of their form, require the use of a refrain in
In a poem or song, a refrain is a line or group of lines that specific places throughout the poem. For more in-depth information
regularly repeat, usually at the end of a stanza in a poem or about each of these forms, and for examples of how refrains are used
at the end of a verse in a song. In a speech or other prose in each, visit the individual entries for each type of poem.
writing, a refrain can refer to any phrase that repeats a • Ballad: A ballad is a type of poem that tells a story and was
number of times within the text. traditionally set to music. English language ballads are typically
composed of four-line stanzas that follow an ABCB rhyme
Some additional key details about refrains:
scheme. They often use a refrain, but not always.
• Refrains can be one or more lines, though in some cases they can • Ballade: A ballade is a form of lyric poetry that originated in
be as short as a few words or even a single word. Although medieval France. Ballades follow a strict rhyme scheme and
refrains generally use the same language every time they're typically have three eight-line stanzas followed by a shorter four-
repeated in a poem, the language may vary slightly between line stanza called an envoi. The last line of each stanza is a refrain.
repetitions.
• Sestina: A sestina is a poem consisting of six six-line sestets and a
• A poem may have more than one refrain. final three-line tercet. In the sestina, no lines are actually repeated
• Generally speaking, refrains repeat at regular intervals throughout in full, but specific words are repeated throughout the poem
a poem, such as at the end of every stanza. Some poems, according to a prescribed pattern, making this form a variation on
however, may repeat the refrain more sporadically. more conventional refrains.
• Villanelle: A villanelle is a type of poem that consists of five tercets
Ho
Howw tto
o Pr
Pronounc
onouncee R
Refr
efrain
ain followed by one four-line quatrain. The first and third lines of the
first tercet both function as repeating refrains, which alternate as
Here's how to pronounce refrain: re-fr
frayn
ayn
the final line of each subsequent tercet and appear again as the
two final lines of the concluding quatrain.
Refr
efrains
ains in Dep
Depth
th
Refrains first became popular in poetry because of their importance Refr
efrains
ains in Speeches and Pr
Prose
ose Writing
to the lyric poetry forms of the middle ages, which were often recited The term "refrain" has come to have a meaning that is a bit different,
or sung with musical accompaniment. The repetition of words or and less specific, in the context of speeches or prose writing. In such
phrases between verses was a useful tool for helping writers and writing, a refrain refers simply to any phrase or sentence is regularly
performers memorize the words of poems, and refrains also helped repeated. Because a refrain can refer to virtually any kind of repetition
the listener to get a sense for the rhythm of the poem, since refrains in prose writing, it can overlap with other figures of speech that refer
are generally repeated at regular intervals. The tradition of repeating to very specific sorts of repetition, including epistrophe and
refrains in lyric poetry has continued into the present day through anaphora.
popular music—most genres of songs with lyrics contain choruses
with lyrics that repeat, making those choruses a form of refrain. A
chorus, in other words, is just a specialized kind of refrain. EX
EXAMPLES
AMPLES
In the 15th and 16th centuries, refrains branched out from lyric poetry
and music; they began to be commonly found in non-lyric formal
verse (poetry with a strict meter and rhyme scheme) and, to a lesser Examples of R
Refr
efrain
ain in P
Poe
oetr
tryy
extent, in blank verse (poetry with a strict meter but no rhyme). Since
that time, refrains have been used in all types of poetry (including in Refr
efrain
ain in Shak
Shakespe
espear
are'
e'ss "When tha
thatt I w
was
as and a lit
little
tle tiny bo
boy"
y"
free verse) and the conventions that originally determined the ways in These are the first two stanzas of a song from Shakespeare's play,
which refrains could be used—that repetition had to be identical in Twelfth Night. A lyric poem such as this is described as having a
each instance and had to occur at regular intervals, for "double refrain," because it has two lines that repeat as refrains in
example—were met with new variations and innovations. Thus, the each stanza.
term refrain has expanded over time to encompass any series of
words that are repeated throughout a poem.

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When that I was and a little tiny boy, excerpt the refrain comes at the beginning of sentences and is
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, repeated with such regularity, making it also an example of anaphora.
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day. Carl Solomon! I’m with you in Rockland
where you’re madder than I am
But when I came to man’s estate,
I’m with you in Rockland
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
where you must feel very strange
’Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
I’m with you in Rockland
For the rain it raineth every day.
where you imitate the shade of my mother
I’m with you in Rockland
Refr
efrain
ain in YYeeats'
s'ss ""Sep
Septtember 1913"
where you’ve murdered your twelve secretaries
In this example, which shows the first two stanzas of the poem, the I’m with you in Rockland
final line of each stanza functions as a refrain. where you laugh at this invisible humor
I’m with you in Rockland
What need you, being come to sense, where we are great writers on the same dreadful typewriter
But fumble in a greasy till I’m with you in Rockland
And add the halfpence to the pence where your condition has become serious and is reported on
And prayer to shivering prayer, until the radio
You have dried the marrow from the bone;
For men were born to pray and save:
Refr
efrain
ain in Ernes
Ernestt Henle
Henley'
y'ss "Ballade (Double R
Refr
efrain)
ain) Of Midsummer
Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone, Days And Night
Nights"
s"
It’s with O’Leary in the grave.
Here is another, more modern example of a poem with a double
Yet they were of a different kind, refrain. This poem was written in the early 20th century. Excerpted
The names that stilled your childish play, here are just the first two stanzas of the full poem (which in its entirety
They have gone about the world like wind, is three stanzas plus an envoi).
But little time had they to pray
With a ripple of leaves and a tinkle of streams
For whom the hangman’s rope was spun,
The full world rolls in a rhythm of praise,
And what, God help us, could they save?
And the winds are one with the clouds and beams--
Romantic Ireland’s dead and gone,
Midsummer days! Midsummer days!
It’s with O’Leary in the grave.
The dusk grows vast; in a purple haze,
While the West from a rapture of sunset rights,
Refr
efrain
ain in Oc
Octtavio P
Paz'
az'ss "Wind, W
Waater
er,, S
Sttone" Faint stars their exquisite lamps upraise--
An atypical example of refrain, Octavio Paz's "Wind, Water, Stone" Midsummer nights! O midsummer nights!
repeats the same set of words as the refrain of each quatrain in the
poem, but the words appear in different orders in each occurrence of The wood's green heart is a nest of dreams,
the refrain. Here are the first two stanzas of the poem: The lush grass thickens and springs and sways,
The rathe wheat rustles, the landscape gleams--
Water hollows stone, Midsummer days! Midsummer days!
wind scatters water, In the stilly fields, in the stilly ways,
stone stops the wind. All secret shadows and mystic lights,
Water, wind, stone. Late lovers murmur and linger and gaze--
Midsummer nights! O midsummer nights!
Wind carves stone,
stone's a cup of water, Refr
efrain
ain in R
Robert
obert FFrros
ost'
t'ss ""S
Stopping b
byy Woods on a Sno
Snowy
wy E
Evvening"
water escapes and is wind.
Stone, wind, water. Even lines that are only repeated once in a poem may be called a
refrain, as in the ending of this famous poem by Robert Frost.
Refr
efrain
ain in Allen Ginsber
Ginsberg'
g'ss "Ho
"Howl"
wl" The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
"I'm with you in Rockland" is the famous refrain Ginsberg's But I have promises to keep,
groundbreaking poem "Howl," which was widely censored at the time And miles to go before I sleep,
of its publication for its vulgar language and explicit themes. In this And miles to go before I sleep.

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Examples of R
Refr
efrain
ain in Songs "Hey Ya" is one of the most iconic songs of the (still-young) 21st
century, and the refrain is an essential part of its mood, structure,
While refrain is a popular device in poetry, you are probably most
and—believe it or not—message. The song, which is characterized by
familiar with its use in song lyrics. Refrains are an essential part of the
its exuberant refrain, is deceptively upbeat and danceable, even
form of most songs, and they're often the most memorable and
though its subject is quintessentially depressing: André 3000 is
beloved part of a song.
singing about how he thinks that all love is a sham and he's unhappy
It is worth noting that a refrain and a chorus in a song are not exactly in his relationship. Consider this part of the song in relation to the
the same thing. A refrain refers to repeated lyrics, and so every chorus refrain (which these lines immediately follow):
(which are marked by repeating lyrics) is a refrain. The term "chorus",
however, refers to when all the musical elements—singers and You think you've got it
instruments—come together in unison. It is possible for a song to Oh, you think you've got it
have a refrain without such a coming together of the musical But "got it" just don't get it
elements. So, while every chorus in a song is a refrain, not every 'Til there's nothing at all
refrain is a chorus.
André 3000 never specifies what he means by this, but presumably
Refr
efrain
ain in ""Sw
Swee
eett Car
Caroline"
oline" the meaning is multiple. First, it's about love—he thought he had love
in his relationship, but he didn't understand that the love was false.
If you've ever been inside Fenway Park for the 8th inning of a Red Sox
Second, these lines can be seen as a small joke on listeners, who are
game, then you've heard thousands of baseball fans singing Neil
likely not to realize that the song, despite its upbeat sound, is sad. In
Diamond's "Sweet Caroline." Notice in this video that the audience is
this sense, these lines might directly refer to the song's refrain:
markedly more enthusiastic during the song's refrain—for many
listeners think that the chorus is just an excuse for dancing, when
people, the refrain is likely the only part of the song that they know by
maybe it's meant to express the frustration and incomprehensibility
heart, since the refrain's repetition throughout the song is what
of failed love. Thus, just as Outkast doesn't get love, listeners don't get
makes it memorable and beloved.
the refrain of "Hey Ya."
Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good Refr
efrain
ain in Speeches
I've been inclined In speeches and other prose writing, a refrain refers simply to any
To believe they never would phrase or sentence that is regularly repeated. Refrains are popular
devices in speeches, because repetition is memorable, musical, and
Refr
efrain
ain in ""Alw
Always
ays on Time" can help to give a common structure and meaning to disparate ideas.
In Ja Rule's "Always on Time," he brings in Ashanti to sing the refrain: These qualities are particularly important in speeches, because the
audience must be made to understand and remember complex ideas
Baby, I'm not always there when you call, but I'm always on without the ability to "rewind" or parse a phrase for its meaning.
time
And I gave you my all, now baby, be mine Refr
efrain
ain in ""Ain't
Ain't I a Woman
Woman?"
?"
Sojourner Truth uses refrain in her famous speech "Ain't I a Woman?"
This refrain—like many refrains—is a condensation of the central
which she delivered without preparation at a women's rights
themes of the song, which is about a relationship in which two
convention in Ohio in 1851. Her refrain—which later became the
people really care about one another but don't always treat each
name by which her untitled speech is known—is a rhetorical
other right. The refrain obliquely suggests the couple's difficulties, as
question, repeated to make the point that women are just as capable
well as the fact that they want to make it work anyway, both of which
as men. Below is an excerpt:
Ja Rule elaborates on during each of the song's verses.
That man over there says that women need to be helped
Refr
efrain
ain in "He
"Heyy YYa"
a" into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best
A song refrain doesn't always have to make sense—sometimes it can place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or
be essentially nonsense and still serve the purpose of pulling the over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a
audience in through catchy repetition. Take Outkast's "Hey Ya," the woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and
refrain of which is simply: planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head
me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as
Hey ya! Hey ya! much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as
Hey ya! Hey ya! well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children,
Hey ya! Hey ya! and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out
Hey ya! Hey ya!

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with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her
a woman? century in America—the heartache and the hope; the
struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we
By alternating this rhetorical question with evidence of her equality to can't, and the people who pressed on with that American
men, Sojourner Truth uses refrain in order to make her point seem creed: Yes we can.
obvious; each time the question is repeated, the notion of
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their
contradicting her seems more and more silly. By the end of the
hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak
paragraph—once "And ain't I a woman?" has been repeated four
out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
times—Sojourner Truth has made it clear that to justify women's
oppression on the grounds that women are weaker than men is When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression
absurd. across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a
New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes
we can.
Refr
efrain
ain in "I Hav
Havee a Dr
Dreeam"
When the bombs fell on our harbour and tyranny threatened
Like Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?", Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I
the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to
Have a Dream" speech—perhaps the most famous speech of the
greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
twentieth century—takes its title from its refrain, which repeats during
the speech's climax, excerpted below: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in
Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and who told a people that 'We Shall Overcome'. Yes we can.
tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in
the American dream. Obama's refrain serves many purposes: it makes a rhetorical point, it
uplifts the audience, and it unifies historical events into a narrative of
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live
progress. Perhaps most important, though, the refrain makes the
out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to
audience feel that they are a part of Obama's victory. As you watch
be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
the video of the speech here, notice that the repetition of "Yes we
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the can" invites the audience to participate by repeating the line after he
sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners does. Obama never explicitly tells the audience that they may do
will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. this—it's the very structure of the refrain that stirs the audience into
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a participation, which speaks to the rhetorical power of the refrain.
state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the
heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of
freedom and justice. WHY WRITER
WRITERSSU
USE
SE IT
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in
The refrain is a versatile literary device that takes many forms and has
a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their
many purposes. Writers, musicians, and orators use refrains in songs,
skin but by the content of their character.
speeches, and poems in order to drive a point home, aid a reader or
listener's memory, establish central themes, and create structure.
King uses this refrain for many reasons, but among the most
Repeated words or phrases stick more easily in a reader or listener's
important is that the repetition of "I have a dream" creates a rhythm
mind and accentuate the structure and rhythm of what's being
that makes the statement begin to feel inevitable. This is powerful
said—a repeated line like "I have a dream," for example, establishes
rhetorical momentum in a speech about progress and equality, and it
the central theme of change and progress, and creates a rhythm
seems to suggest that King's dream is destined to prevail, just as the
within which progress feels as inevitable as the speech's structure.
phrase is destined to recur.
Sometimes refrains are used simply to condense and repeat the
central subject of a poem or song, as in Henley's "Ballade of
Refr
efrain
ain in Bar
Barack
ack Ob
Obama'
ama'ss 2008 Elec
Election
tion Vic
Victtor
oryy Speech Midsummer Days and Nights" and Ja Rule's "Always on Time," both
Barack Obama—who's own speechwriting is deeply influenced by excerpted above. Refrains can also organize the content of a speech,
that of Martin Luther King, Jr.—frequently uses refrain in his speeches. song, or poem by providing a memorable rhetorical framework. This
The phrase "Yes we can" has been a longtime motto of Obama's, and is particularly useful in poems or songs that move quickly and wildly
while it appears in many of his speeches, he used it most iconically as between divergent images and ideas, as in Ginsberg's poem "Howl."
a refrain in his speech after winning the 2008 election. In the excerpt Last, in songs and in some fixed forms of poetry, refrains are often
below, Obama repeatedly references Ann Nixon Cooper, a 106 year used simply because their inclusion is traditional to the form in which
old black woman from Atlanta who couldn't vote when she was the poet or songwriter is writing.
younger because of her gender and race:

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OTHER RESOURCES HO
HOWWT
TO
O CITE
• The Wikipedia Page on Refrain: A somewhat technical
ML
MLAA
explanation, including various helpful examples of how refrain is
used in music. Bergman, Bennet. "Refrain." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 5 May 2017.
Web. 31 Aug 2017.
• The dictionary definition of Refrain: A basic definition that
includes a bit on the etymology of refrain.
Chic
Chicag
ago
o Manual
• A short video that explains refrain and gives a few examples in
under two minutes. Bergman, Bennet. "Refrain." LitCharts LLC, May 5, 2017. Retrieved
August 31, 2017. [Link]
• A post on the difference between a refrain and a chorus in a song.
terms/refrain.

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