antistrophe

The deceased was the tragic hero, the survivors the innocent victims; there was the omnipresence of the deity, strophe and antistrophe of the chorus of mourners led by the preacher.

Strophe, strōf′e, n. in the ancient drama, the song sung by the chorus while dancing towards one side of the orchestra, to which its reverse, the antistrophe, answers.—adj.

They are genuinely Pindaric, that is, with corresponding strophes, antistrophes and epodes.

May and Margaret sang alternately the beautiful old ballad of which they say Sir Walter Raleigh wrote the antistrophe—the reply to the Passionate Shepherd’s desire, “Come live with me, and be my love!”

As the night waned, the moon emerged from ragged clouds, and gradually the lake quieted to its wonted crooning monologue, broken only by the strophe and antistrophe of startled water-fowl scattered by the storm.