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The fixed elements in a parallel construction give the poem as a whole a kind of energetic tautness. In the following example, a certain reductio of language operates to set in motion a series of inner balances and syncopations relating to the poet's four answering definitions:
ECSTASY
What is Peace?
Fulfilment-ecstasy
What is Light?
Truth-ecstasy
What is Delight?
Love-ecstasy.
What is Perfection?
God-ecstasy.
(p.61)
The extreme compression of each compound forces the reader to take stock of specific spiritual qualities in the context of ecstasy. In discovering the cohesion between ecstasy and these individual qualities, we simultaneously establish a profound relationship between the qualities taken together. All represent a variation of the ecstatic experience.
A further application of this technique is the following poem, in which Sri Chinmoy creates a ring structure to highlight his tone of affirmation. The nucleus of the poem consists of three lines which are locked together by anaphora, or repetition of their initial words:
0 PILGRIM OF ETERNITY
0 my Soul, 0 Pilgrim of Eternity,
Do give my earth-life another chance.
This time it will understand your supreme cause.
This time it will glorify your dream.
This time it will offer your nectar-light
To humanity's hungry heart.
0 my Soul, 0 Pilgrim of Eternity,
Do give my earth-life another chance. (p. 357)

