Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)
A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected]
Vol.4.Issue 4. 2016
(Oct.Dec.)
RESEARCH ARTICLE
STYLISTICS IN NISSIM EZEKIEL’S CORPUS
Dr. VISHNU KUMAR SHARMA1, Dr MAHESH KUMAR SHARMA2
1
Yagyavalkya Institute of Technology, Tonk Road, Sitapura, Jaipur, (Rajasthan)
Email: [email protected]
2
Govt. Sr. Sec. School. Jhilai, Tonk, Rajasthan
ABSTRACT
The present paper deals with the study of “Stylistics in Nissim Ezekiel’s Corpus.”
The stylistics is a meeting ground of language and literature. It is the study of the
use of language in literature; the study of language as a complement and aid to the
study of literature; a characteristic manner of expression; how a particular writer
or speaker says things. It is such a part of linguistics as concentrates on variation or
innovation in the use of language. Stylistics is not a stylish word, but it is well
connected. The true nature of it is elusive and needs subtler net to catch the
variations. Thus a detailed stylistic study of Ezekiel's poems reveals interesting
features of his poetic language and style. The focus has been on how he has
managed to choose a style clad in good uniform of thoughts and how he has made
Indian English poetry glorious.
Above all, this study, undertaken in the manner presented in this work, will not
only provide the reader with insights into the workings of poetry, but also
encourage him to think afresh about the nature of that complex phenomenon we
call stylistics.
Key words: stylistics, grammatical, polysemy, classic, figurative
©KY PUBLICATIONS
The stylistics is a meeting ground of language
and literature. It is the study of the use of language
in literature; the study of language as a complement
and aid to the study of literature; a characteristic
manner of expression; how a particular writer or
speaker says things. It is such a part of linguistics as
concentrates on variation or innovation in the use of
language, often, but not exclusively, with special
attention to the most conscious and contemplated
use of language in literature. Stylistics is not a stylish
word, but it is well connected. The true nature of it
is elusive and needs subtler net to catch the
variations. Thus a detailed stylistic study of Ezekiel's
poems reveals interesting features of his poetic
language and style. Style is "a characteristic way of
538
deploying the transformational apparatus of a
i
language." An author's stylistic preferences are
highly significant because, as Ohmann points out,
ii
they "reflect cognitive preferences." Style refers to
"a function of the aggregate of the ratio between
the frequencies of its phonological, grammatical and
lexical items, and the frequencies of the
corresponding items in a contextually related
iii
norm." The word stylistics fills the reader’s mind
with a plethora of questions i.e. what kind of word
strings are used; phrases, sentences; complete or
not or heavily modified? What kinds of
constructions are worked out; passive, active,
transitive, intransitive? Are the verbs lexical,
auxiliary, or modal? What kinds of words are used;
Dr. VISHNU KUMAR SHARMA, Dr MAHESH KUMAR SHARMA
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)
A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected]
formal, technical, slang, archaic, poetic and so on?
What is the mood; interrogative, imperative,
declarative? Is there any use of polysemy; multiple
meaning, figurative meaning, hybrid notion? And so
on. In Ezekiel’s case most of his sentences are simple
but he embellishes his language with certain kinds of
devices. He wrote longer sentences by the time he
composed poems in The Exact Name. Then came a
change in his style. The sentences of Hymns in
Darkness are somewhat big. In Latter-Day Psalms
the sentences are shorter but language is more
figurative. Most of the words used by the poet are
monosyllabic. Some disyllabic words have also been
used regularly.
Prior to The Exact Name, Ezekiel's poetry is
notable for an extreme technical formality. There, of
course, reflects the conventions of the 1950s, when
most poets of the English-speaking world would
have an interest in low toned poetry and carefully
work in traditional metrical and stanzaic forms.
Auden, Emerson, Graves, Yeats, Eliot and Frost were
looked to for inspiration and imitation. Many kinds
of traditional forms were rediscovered and
employed as sestinas, villanelles, etc. Not only this.
The finicky use of metre, rhyme and stanza-form are
there for better understanding of ironic modes. His
style has the seeds of the traditional, the transitional
and the new style. The traditional style lies in “First
iv
follow Nature”. In the transitional style, there is a
clear attempt to loosen the ties of exact form;
where mind inclines to some earnest business and
“Bold adventures disdain / The limits of their
v
(classical writers) little reign (Brackets mine).” And
in the new style, the poet's own voice finally breaks
through to descry unknown regions and arts.
One may look at The Unfinished Man as an
example of the poet's traditional style. All ten
poems in this volume are precisely regular in form.
All are fully rhymed and written in regular stanzas
and iambic metre. Like the most poets he uses strict
forms and relies heavily on variations to give
rhythmic power and subtlety, especially through the
application of foot-substitutions, run-on lines and
half rhymes. Eight out of the twenty poems in The
Exact Name are in the traditional style, and show, to
a large degree, the finicky use of the technique.
These poems are "Philosophy", "Poetry Reading",
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Vol.4.Issue 4. 2016
(Oct.Dec.)
"Virginal", "Love Poem", "Platonic", "Perspective",
"Fruit" and "Art Lecture".
For example in "Jamini Roy'' there is no footsubstitution. The poem consists of sixty-four iambic
feet with only six run-on lines out of sixteen, making
the sound ponderous and insistent. This is
heightened by the use of two-lined end stopped
sentences, where the syntax reinforces the stilted
effect instead of playing dynamically and
expressively against the metre and line breaks. The
result is highly literary:
He started with a different style,
He travelled, so he found his roots.
His rage became a quiet smile
vi
Prolific in its proper fruits.
Similarly, "Case Study", with its very tight
rhyme scheme (ab aa bb) suffers from a
startling inflexibility, so far as the use of
metre is concerned. Let us consider the last
stanza:
He came to me and this is what I said:
'The pattern will remain, unless you break
It with a sudden jerk; but use your head...
Not all returned as heroes who had fled
In wanting both to have and eat the cake.
vii
Not all who fail are counted with the fake.
Here, one cannot help hearing too the sonorous
echo of the iambic feet which are increased by the
finicky use of the enjambment after the second line.
The inflexible sound is exaggerated by more number
of monosyllabic words which directly pour the metre
into the ear with massive force. In the whole thirtyline pentameter poem there are only three minor
foot-substitutions and only two rhymes. One finds
the examples of blank verse and free verse for the
first time, and the emphasis on the new content.
The transitional poems differ from the regular
poems. The poet’s mind inclines towards some
earnest business and here the transitional style
prevails over the traditional style. A bunch of poems,
namely, "Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher", "Paradise Fly
Catcher" "Night of the Scorpion", "In India",
"Beachscene", "A Warning" "The Visitor", "Two
Images" etc are the poems of the highest quality.
Also they demonstrate the pull away from the
traditional style and context. In the poem "In India",
one can see the transitional qualities, where instead
Dr. VISHNU KUMAR SHARMA, Dr MAHESH KUMAR SHARMA
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)
A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected]
of attempting a whole poem in a new style, Ezekiel
breaks it into four sections of varying degrees of
formal freedom, and lets each section play against
and modify the others. Section first is a classic
example of the transitional state between the
formal and free verse. Clearly it is neither fully
regular verse nor fully free one. The first line has a
three-foot pattern predominantly in trochaic
rhythm, others contain iambs while the last three
lines are tetrameters, with a strong iambic base. The
whole section forms one long sentence where the
suffering humanity is observed with the observer's
own presence and reaction. The absence of rhyme
speeds the movement from one line to another and
allows the syntax to force the reader onwards
through the lines without permitting him/her to
stop and to catch his/her breath.
The second section of "In India" is more
effective as the poet employs an over-formal form
and jingling music as an ironic reinforcement of his
meaning. This form is, of course, highly effective in
combining its formal, romantic literary echoes with
the satirical colloquial content. The repetition of
"Prayers" in every stanza, the disdainfully repeated
"boys", the boorish, childish behaviour of the
various religious and racial groups, are all
instruments of sneering and cutting satire. Here the
form per se becomes an instrument of satirical
meaning.
The third section is another transitional
poem, ostensibly in free verse, but once again
toughened by the insistent occurrence of iambic
feet and regular lines. These lines are regularly
iambic with supple sound patterns, and even give an
exasperating hint of rhyme ("Kiss", "is" and later
"Success"). Clearly no genuinely free verse can exist
with such a level of metrical regularity. The pungent
irony has been sharpened by a pattern of diction
and rollicking sound.
The fourth section is the first example where
one can see a new voice in Ezekiel’s work. Suddenly
but confidently an impressive strength merges with
the display of individuality. Little damaged by any
formal prosody the section becomes a free verse of
great strength. With acid in its satire and
spontaneity, naturalness in its sound it becomes a
new voice. One can note the command of tone and
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Vol.4.Issue 4. 2016
(Oct.Dec.)
the dramatic certainty of expression in the opening
lines:
This, she said to herself
As she sat at table
With the English boss,
viii
Is It. This is the promise.
Only the use of capital letters at the
beginning of each line does remind the
reader of the traditional style. Otherwise, the
form notifies the concreteness of the
content, effortlessly allowing the emergence
of the vicious understated satire:
Certainly the blouse
Would not be used again.
But with true British courtesy
He lent her a safety pin
ix
Before she took the elevator down.
"In India" is highly interesting, a breakthrough in
style and exemplifies the microcosm of Ezekiel's
struggle to free himself from traditional restrictions.
It is an emblem of the Indian culture a little
damaged by westernization. But it is "In
Restrospect" that proves most clearly that a
breakthrough in style has been made. Here Ezekiel's
new voice rings out; clear and trenchant:
You might as well
be locked in a case
and I the visitor
to feed you there
with cheapest nuts
(I call them thoughts)
for all the difference
x
it seems to make.
In this poem, the rhythm moves with the mind and
feelings. The line breaks and the syntax plays with
words. The voice is personal, dramatic and strong
due to wide tonal colouring. The short lines, the free
verse, the flexibility of syntax and tone are here
perfectly appropriate for assuming potency. Thus
frankly speaking, he has made India a paradise for
poets with his innovative and embellished style and
has ruled over the Indian poetic realm as the prince
of poets.
i
R. Ohmann, Generative Grammars and the Concept
of Literary Style (Middletown: Middletown Press,
1964) 431.
Dr. VISHNU KUMAR SHARMA, Dr MAHESH KUMAR SHARMA
Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL)
A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal
http://www.rjelal.com; Email:[email protected]
Vol.4.Issue 4. 2016
(Oct.Dec.)
ii
R. Ohmann, Shaw: The Style and the Man 22.
N.E. Enkvist, et al. Linguistics and Style (London:
Oxford UP, 1964) 28.
iv
D. J. Enright and Ernst De Chickera, eds. English
Critical Texts (New Delhi: Oxford UP, 2003)112.
v
B V Sundaram, Selections from Thomas Gray
(Madras: The Macmillan Company of India Ltd.,
1979) 4.
vi
Leela Gandhi and Thieme John, eds. Nissim Ezekiel
Collected Poems (New Delhi: Oxford UP, 2005) 126.
vii
John 125.
viii
John 133.
ix
John 134.
x
John 144.
iii
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Dr. VISHNU KUMAR SHARMA, Dr MAHESH KUMAR SHARMA