Setting aside line 1 which is an introductory formula, the overall pattern of the text is a multiple sandwich, with m'-constructions

forming the outer layer, then constructions as the next layer further in, then a layer of ni all surrounding a section of kit at the middle. The symmetry is actually reinforced by the two exceptional lines. Line 1 has neither ni nor kii, while line 22 combines one sentence of each type. Line 22 occupies the numerical midpoint of the incantation's 43 lines. The same two lines, 1 and 22, are the only cases of a single line comprising two sentences. This balanced arrangement can be said to serve a mnemonic purpose, since there is a predictable alternation between the two types (ni and kii). The alternation of ni and kii segments also has an aesthetic function generating variety without randomness. We furthermore believe that the pattern in (iv) contributes to the text's effectiveness as a performative utterance, i.e. a ritual formula intended to produce a practical impact on the hearer, because it provides scope for structural parallelism.22 As with structural symmetry, so too can structural parallelism be regarded as both mnemonic and performative in function. By parallelism we mean repetition at a certain level of structure. There is syntactic repetition in each unit in (iv) by definition, since the repetition of ni and kii constructions is the basis for dividing the text. This division is reinforced by clusters or relative clauses in the largest two units. A relative clause is the focused argument of the m-construction in the last 4 lines of unit iv (b), and in the first 8 lines of unit iv (h).23 There is morpho-lexical repetition, and hence parallelism, in lines 2-3 (awise vs. afowe). There is purely lexical repetition, and hence parallelism, in lines 19-20 (ko okuri) and again in lines 29-39 (ojo oojo) and 40-43 (warawara). The lexical repetition tends to be at the beginning of the line/sentence, which is also the favoured position for focus. Stylistic Significance Like other poetic genres, ofo allows some constructions that would be stylistically marked in ordinary spoken Yoruba. In a ni-construction, it is well known that the item that occurs to the left of ni is normally either an argument of the main sentence, or else a predicate (nominalised where necessary) is the subject of the main verb se ('come to pass'). In line 9 the phrase yee a ba wi han ogbo ('whatever we may shout to flax') is the object of the main verb gbo (hear). In lines 40-43 the ideophone warawara ('instantly') is understood as a secondary predicate of the various sentences that it precedes24. In some examples from the text, a ni-construction is elliptical with respect to certain lexical items. In line 2, the ni-sentence (5) is most plausibly derived from (6).