The repetition technique is usually used by poets to draw more attention to the idea and topic that they want to relay. In "There was a child went forth", the author uses the technique at the start and at the end of every stanza.
This passage shows the transience of human life, because it shows how one person can pass from being one thing to another thing and then in death being surrounded by both. Julia was born as a Hersey and then when she got married she just 'became' a Gibbs because she married Doc Gibbs. This shows how easily a person can transition from one identity to the next. Then, when she dies, she transitions into the cemetery and in heaven would be surrounded by Gibbses and Herseys, not knowing which family she belongs to now. Passing back and forth in life and death shows how transient and fleeting the nature of life is.
