CHAPTER SIX: THE FIGURATIVE USE OF LANGUAGE
6.1. Preliminaries
In the beginning, introduction to the core concepts of figurative use of
language has been made. Then, the chapter goes on to discuss the figures of
speech based on comparison such as simile, metaphor and conceit. It
thoroughly has examined figures of speech based on substitution such as
Metonymy, Synecdoche, Antonomasia, Personification and Apostrophe. It
has discussed figures of speech based on contrast such as Antithesis,
Oxymoron, Paradox, Epigram, Pun, Irony, Sarcasm, Euphemism and
Periphrasis. It also has discussed figures of speech based on arrangements of
words and grammar such as Transferred Epithet, Climax, Hyperbole,
Meiosis, Litotes, Exclamation, Interrogation, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia and
Tautology. Miscellaneous figures such as Asyndeton, Polysyndeton,
Hendiadys, Zeugma, Syllepsis, Chiasmus and Prolepsis have been examined
towards the end of the chapter. The interest of the research has been not only
in the identification and in the explanation of figures of speech in the
selected poems but also in finding the hidden schemes or structures of
intended meanings in the poem. The real value of figures of speech is to
encourage the readers to think anew and to grapple with the inexplicable
ideas.
6.2. The Importance of Figurative Use in Poetry
The term ‗figure‘ comes from ‗figura‘ or ‗figuere‘, which means ‗to form‘.
The Greek philosophers, especially Athenian studied figures of speech as
science. In one sense, figures give a shape to the language. Mukarovsky
characterized poetic language as an aesthetically purposeful distortion of
standard language. Figures of speech or figurative language relies on
deviance. Language is a means of communication. The users of language
210
have to follow the rules of language in order to make his conversation
acceptable but when the speaker or the writer wants his recipient to
concentrate on certain aspect of language in order to receive intended
meaning through comparison, resemblance, hierarchy, relationship, verbal
gymnastics etc. they deviate from straight forward approach. Moreover,
figurative use of language is a quintessence of aesthetic pleasure. Marjorie
Boulton (1979: 152-153) observes this typical function as follows:
―Rhetoric may be used simply to adorn speech and writing. Figures of
speech may not be necessary to clarify, or to stimulate emotion, but
may still be used for the sheer pleasure they give. I sometimes give a
humorous lecture in English or Esperanto on some completely
unimportant subject such as ‗My Well-Planned Kitchen‘ (the title
itself is rhetorical, the figure of speech used being irony!); ‗His
Mewing Excellency –From the Life of a Siamese Cat‘; or some
journey I have made, with emphasis on the funny side. These talks, if
they were simply straightforward accounts of the everyday and
valueless subjects, would be of no interest at all; the whole point of a
humorous lecture is the way the stories are told. Irony, comical
exaggeration, climaxes, sudden anti-climaxes, surprises of every kind,
puns, odd comparisons and so on, ludicrous understatement,
unexpected epithets, are what make a talk make of this kind; the
pleasure of the listener is not in the valueless subject-matter, but in
the comical language‖. (1)
Figures of speech are indirect ways of communication. The philosopher H.P.
Grice developed Conversational Principles, in which he states whatever the
speaker wants to convey, should convey directly as far as maxim of manner
is considered so that communication takes place smoothly. However, when
the matter comes down to effectiveness, flouting the maxim some time
211
produces better effect. Elizabeth Black (2006: 25) comments about flouting
as follows:
―This is the most interesting way of breaking a maxim. One makes
clear to the hearer that one is aware of the co-operative principle and
the maxims, so that the audience is led to consider why the principle
or a maxim was broken. The assumption, in other words, is not that
communication has broken down, but that the speaker has chosen an
indirect way of achieving it. It may be that something in the situation
prevents giving a direct answer to a question; considerations of
politeness may inhibit the speaker. This is one of the most crucial
aspects of Grice‘s theory for the interpretation of literary texts. We
assume that flouts generate implicatures, and it is up to the reader to
pick up appropriate ones. Thus the maxim of manner is flouted when
we use a metaphor or irony, but we assume that it has communicative
effects‖.(2)
It is curious to note that figuration of language takes place not only by
breaking the cooperative principles but also by breaking the rules of
grammar, syntacs, pronunciation etc. These are attention catching devices
which serve a lot in case of poetry for various purposes like evoking,
sympathizing, empathizing emotions, which is the primary function of
poetry. The use of figure of speech serves a number of purposes like
intensifying emotional expressiveness and imperative force of expression. It
is a kind of deviation from the general use of language that clarifies,
emphasizes, defines and embellishes both written and spoken language. Peter
J. Rabinowitz in the book of Raman Selden (1995: 361-362) elucidates the
same point by referring the works of Mary Louise Pratt. Pratt believes that
literature is a kind of utterance as follows:
212
―Specifically, she sees it as a display text: a text that invites the
addressee to contemplate, evaluate, or interpret a state of affairs that
is tellable ( unusual, contrary to expectations, or otherwise
problematic, but – in contrast to informing assertions – not
necessarily new). These texts, however, are not ‗autonomous, selfcontained,
self-motivating,
context-free
objects
which
exist
independently from the ―pragmatic‖ concerns of ―everyday‖
discourse.‘ Rather, she argues, ‗literary works take place in a context,
and like any other utterance they cannot be described apart from that
context‘ (Toward a Speech Act Theory, p. 115).
That context is, for Pratt, institutional, and one of its attributes is our
knowledge that a given work of literature before us in fact got
published. This knowledge permits readers to make a number of
assumptions: for instance, that the work is definitive (the author was
able to plan it, and it is therefore free of serious flaws), and that it
was pre-selected by some socially sanctioned institution (for example,
an editorial board). She then invokes Grice‘s cooperative principle
and its maxims.‖. (3)
The figures of speech are not only primitive but also are there right from the
birth of language itself. One theory of origin of language emphasizes the fact
that it is originated as result of imitation of sounds of other animals.
Therefore, cognitive resemblance of this kind is deeply rooted in the human
consciousness that makes him to compare, to synthesize and to relate in
order to express certain things that would have been impossible to yield. On
the other hand, it gives certain credit to (receivers) readers to apply their
minds in order to find the correlation.
213
It can be noted that many figurative structures are found common in many
languages for example ‗up is good‘ and ‗down is bad‘ are conceptually
found common irrespective of language, caste, creed and religion. It is also
evident to the fact that human language in general has the same cognitive
structure, a kind of universal grammar. The relation between language and
thought is a matter of dispute, whether language determines thought or
thought determines language is very difficult to resolve. Whereas, on the
contrary the great American linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir and
his pupil Benjamin Lee Whorf believe that every language has its peculiar
way of expression. So, they believe that it is language that determines
thought John Lyons (1981: 101) writes about it as follows:
―The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, as it is usually presented, combines
linguistic determinism (―Language determines thought‖) with
linguistic relativity (―There is no limit to the structural diversity of
languages‖). In its most extreme version, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
may be put as follows:
(a) We are, in all our thinking and forever, ―at the mercy of the
particular language which has become the medium of expression for
[our] society‖, because we cannot but ―see and hear and otherwise
experience‖ in terms of the categories and distinctions encoded in
language; (b) the categories and distinctions encoded in one
language-system are unique to that system and incommensurable with
those of other systems‖.(4)
However, it can be argued that bilingual speaker switches from one world to
another, when code switching occurs. Though it is very difficult to find the
symptoms of existence of two different systems in the language of
somebody, code switching does prove the organic connection between the
languages. As well as translators, many times find certain similar kind of
214
idiomatic expressions in source and target languages that prove the fact that
human languages have similar deeper structures and figures of speech are
cognitively encoded in their languages. ‗All that glitter is not gold‘ is a wellknown idiom in English; in Hindi and Marathi languages similar kinds of
proverbs are available. Such common grounds are also possible in case of
figures of speech too. Kings are compared with lions. Roses are compared
with girls etc.
Language is a system of systems. Figures of speech also are systems. They
are encoded in human consciousness in a systematic manner. The system is
primarily noticeable in metaphors. Hurford Heasley and Smith (1983)
believe that metaphors are conceptual (mental) operations reflected in human
languages, which enable the speaker to structure and construe abstract ideas
into more concrete experiential terms. They classified metaphors into
different categories like Structural Metaphors, Orientational Metaphors etc.
In Structural Metaphors, an entire complex idea is structured for example a
sentence like ‗They attacked everything we said‘ is structured on the
metaphor ‗Argument is war‘. Orientational Metaphors give concepts spatial
orientation like ‗Happy is Up‘ as in ‗I‘m feeling up today‘. While
commenting on Orientational Metaphor, Hurford Heasley and Smith (1983:
335-336) write as follows:
―These examples of Orientational metaphors reveal some interesting
facts about the language. First, they show that the use of
metaphorical language is systematic and not random or haphazard.
There is ‗external systematicity among the various spatialization
metaphors‘ (LJ 1980:18) in that all the metaphors involving UP are
positive in some way or evoke general well-being when viewed
against our cultural knowledge and understanding. In other words,
the various metaphors are coherent with each other. Second, the
215
systematic nature of the metaphors reflects the fact that they ‗are
rooted in physical and cultural experience‘ (LJ 1980: 18). We
understand such metaphors because they are grounded in the way we
experience the world‖. (5)
Encarta Dictionary describes figure of speech as ―an expression or use of
language in a nonliteral sense in order to achieve a particular effect.‖
Historically, figure of speech has been a subject of interest of not only of
poets but also of rhetoricians and critics. Apart from poetics, other
disciplines like philosophy, logic and psychology have been studying the
verbal arts. An expression when it fails to match with its literal meaning then
the expression is said to be the figure of speech or Tropes. Microsoft Encarta
Premium 2008 defines it in the following words:
―Figure of Speech, word or group of words used to give particular
emphasis to an idea or sentiment. The special emphasis is typically
accomplished by the user's conscious deviation from the strict literal
sense of a word, or from the more commonly used form of word order
or sentence construction. From ancient times to the present, such
figurative locutions have been extensively employed by orators and
writers to strengthen and embellish their styles of speech and
composition. A number of the more widely used figures of speech,
some of which are also called trope‖.(6)
Since, figures of speech are very closely related with persuasive speech or
writing that communicates its point categorically. It is synonymous with
rhetoric, which is an art of persuading the people to what the point is made.
In Greek rhētorikē is an art of public speaking. Microsoft Encarta Premium
2008 defines it in the following words:
216
―Rhetoric, in its broadest sense, the theory and practice of eloquence,
whether spoken or written. Spoken rhetoric is oratory. Rhetoric
defines the rules that should govern all prose composition or speech
designed to influence the judgment or the feelings of people. It
therefore treats of all matters relating to beauty or forcefulness of
style. In a narrower sense, rhetoric is concerned with a consideration
of the fundamental principles according to which oratorical
discourses are composed: invention, arrangement, style, memory, and
delivery‖. (7)
In the ancient time, rhetoric was a professional training for making a legal
practice. Steven Lynn (2010: 3-4) makes the following observations on
historical traces of Rhetoric as follows:
―Rhetoric‘s beginning supposedly occurred in Syracuse, Sicily,
around 467-466 BCE when someone named Corax began teaching the
art of persuasive argument to paying customers. Many Syracusans
had lost their property and wealth under a succession of tyrants and a
new government and judicial system, requiring citizens to represent
themselves, offered the opportunity to set things right. Here at the
origins of rhetoric we can see its great potential to do good, its
inspiring relationship to justice, free speech and democratic
institutions and at the same time we can also easily see rhetoric‘s
dark side, for what if your neighbor can argue more convincingly that
your olive trees belong to him? Indeed, legend has it that Tisias,
Corax‘s student, refused to pay for his instruction, and so Corax sued
him, arguing ―You must pay if you win the case, thus proving the
value of my lessons; and you must pay if you lose, since the court will
force you.‖ but Tisias countered, ― I will pay nothing, because losing
217
would prove your teaching was worthless, and winning would absolve
me from paying.‖‖ .(8)
Thus this art of persuasion can be used for wellbeing or for discomfort
depending on the wish of the person. The origin of the rhetoric can be traced
back to the earliest of the civilization of Mesopotamia. Some of the earliest
of the examples can be traced from the speeches of princess and priestess of
Akkaddian writings. From Roman antiquity, Cicero (1 st Century BC) is
supposed to have perfected the craft of rhetorics in his ‗Rhetoric to
Herennius‘. It was Gorgias of Leontini of 5th Century BCE, who could be
considered as the earliest of Greek orators. He theorized oratory and
perfected the art and the artistry of poetry to make it conducive to prose. His
‗Encomium of Helen‘ is full of speeches containing figures such as repetition
and contrast.
In ancient Greek, it was taught to students to develop an oratorical
persuasion. Rhetoric further flourished in Renaissance with its interest in
human wit and eloquence. The renaissance as its name suggest was the
rebirth of classical learning in fact it was the reappraisal of classical rhetoric
and during that period, with its humanitarian approach, scholars resumed the
study of key texts chiefly by Quintilian and Cicero. Even Cicero observed
very famously that the poet is a very close relative of the orator as far as the
rhythmical language and choice of words are considered. Horace‘s ‗Art of
Poetry‘ is a fine example of poetry as if it is an oratory.
Training in rhetorical art found its echo in the works of Plato and Aristotle.
However, Plato believed it to be the art of enchanting the soul. Plato‘s
Gorgias shows the danger that a person with such verbal tricks may be
valued more than the person who actually is a knowledgeable person. For
him, the truth is held high than the dazzling phrases and strategies. Yet he
did not altogether discard it. In his Phaedrus, he showed how an
218
understanding of the soul and inquiry into the truth is possible. He was
against the Sophist for their use of rhetoric as a means of deceit rather than
discovering the truth. Since it was a civic art, it could be used for
manipulation of negative effects on the city. Aristotle in his ‗On Rhetoric‘
fused the art of persuasion with the art of dialectics, which is an art of
debate. He defined rhetoric as an ability to identify different approaches to
find means of persuasion of all fields, not only politics. It was only a civic art
to him. Philip Sidney made the confluence of didactic aim of oratory with
the delighting goal of poetry in his ‗The Defense of Poesy‘. Puttenham in his
‗Arte of English Poesie‘ (1589) declared that literary rhetoric meant
elocution and elocution meant figures of speech. McDonald (2007: 6)
observes as follows:
―Elucutio deals with certain larger categories, such as the various
styles (the simplest division is that of the plain, middle, and grand
styles) but its building blocks are the figures. Perhaps the most
important thing to grasp, in a spirit of liberation rather than
frustration, is that the theory of the figures is built on shifting sands.
Definition mutate over time, as indeed do the sets and subsets of the
kinds of figures that contain those definitions‖. (9)
During the middle ages central component of rhetorical study was poetry and
letter writing. However, with Hugh Blair‘s ‗Lecture on Rhetoric and Belles
Letters‘ with his belief that students could improve their writing effectively,
it took turn towards writing and literature and marked a departure from its
original tradition. With this literature, especially poetry came under the
umbrella of rhetorical studies. Rhetorical study, as civic art, though is
blamed for the manipulation of negative effects on the city, the use of
rhetorical devices in poetry is free of such blames since poetry always
construct a better future with respect of its readers.
219
In the beginning of eighteenth century, the interest in rhetoric practice
declined. Rhetoric was thought to be an art related to public speeches only.
The Romantics believed that poetry could not be translated into paraphrase.
They were very scornful about the classical use of metaphor, irony and other
figure of speech. However, Deirdre Wilson and Dan Sperber (2012: 86-87)
firmly believe that there is nothing wrong in employing different rhetorical
terminology and resources in the interpretation of literature or experiences.
They observe as follow:
―The rhetoricians dilemma is a case of an even more fundamental
problem in the study of human communication. From ancient rhetoric
through to modern semiotics, communication was analyzed as a
coding-decoding process in which the communicator encodes a
message into a signal that the audience then decodes. The existence of
a common code has been seen as a necessary and essentially
sufficient condition for communication. The code model of
communication has an appealing simplicity; but it has become
increasingly obvious that human communication cannot be fully
explained in terms of this model alone.
Given a rich enough code – and human languages are certainly rich
enough in the required sense – anything that can be encoded in one
way can be encoded in another (i.e. whatever can be encoded can be
paraphrased).
The
fact
that
communication
achieves
some
unparaphrasable effects – which particularly interested the
Romantics – strongly suggests that more is communicated than is
actually encoded. Moreover, as modern pragmatics has repeatedly
shown, communicators often succeed in conveying implicitly (i.e.
without encoding it) information that they could have explicitly
encoded‖.(10)
220
At present, the study of rhetorics and figures of speech has been revitalized
with the initiation of different studies in the field of linguistics and its
branches. Particularly, Katie Wales (2001: 337-338) observes in the
following manner:
―With the development of subjects such as SEMIOTICS, STYLISTICS and
PREGMATICS, an interest in traditional rhetoric has been revived; and,
indeed, new areas of rhetoric have been suggested for development.
Earlier interest in the ‗philosophy‘ of rhetoric had been aroused by
the (1936) work of Richards, which bridged the past with then current
work in LITERARY and practical CRITICISM. In the United States in
particular, handbooks which give guidance on composition skills
continue the rhetorical tradition, in what is sometimes called modern
rhetori‖ .(11)
In the early 1960s, slowly change started taking place with the new linguistic
turn through the rise of the branches of semiotics. Roman Jakobson and
Roland Barthes perceived some basic elements in rhetoric, which could be
studied, in modern linguistics. Psychologist, Jacques Lacan and philosopher
Jacques Derrida referred rhetoric and its elements in their writings.
In Indian literary tradition poetry is considered as merely a verbal structure.
It means one must know the potency of words to appreciate the poetry. The
ancient Indian acharyas understood poetry as a verbal complex and
profoundly emotive. Though Bharata‘s ‗rasa theory‘ and Anadavardhana‘s
‗dhvani theory‘ sheds light on Indian poetics, it was the theory of Abhinava
Gupta which is the meeting ground of ‗rasa‘ and ‗dhvani‘ theory. He
believed that there may not be a qualitative or quantitative difference in word
essence but there may be difference in its grasping by mind. He believed that
readers arrive at suggested meaning through ‗abhidha‘ (literal meaning) and
221
‗laksana‘ (external meaning). The word ‗alamkara‘ is translated into English
as ‗figures of speech‘. Along with their theories on figures of speech, ancient
Indian aesthetician seems to have developed their own styles for writing.
Indian Sanskrit scholar, Amar Kumar Singh (1990: 54) makes the following
observation:
―Patanjali‘s style is aphoristic and epigrammatic. Many things are
expressed in little space. Patanjali‘s ‗Yogoshohittavritinirodhah‘ is
an example. Vritti is the tendency of mind. There are various
tendencies of mind. ‗Nirodhah‘ is the turning of the tendencies of
mind from outward to inward course. The Chitta or mind is always in
motion due to the flow of thoughts which have to be controlled. So
many layers of meanings are to be unraveled in one aphorism‖. (12)
Notwithstanding merits or demerits of Indian literary theories, it is quite
certain that Ancient scholars of India offered a lot on the theories of poetics.
Many western scholars studied it and employed it in their poetry. G. Subha
Rao (1954: 101) observes as follows:
―So far Indian contribution to English had been essentially
materialistic. But in this century the religion, language and literatures
and above all the philosophy of India began to attract the attention of
English Scholars‖. (13)
T.S. Eliot studied Bhagavad Gita and Yoga. The influence of the same
philosophy can be noticed in all his major works. Creative awareness in
India, regarding the embellishment of ‗alamkarka‘ is very old. Choudhari
(2002: 12-13) observes as follows:
222
―Yet, it seems that in the time of Bhamaha, the word ‗Alamkara‘ was
prevalent in wide sense. That is why according to Dandin the
definition of alamkara is that every kind of characteristic which
provides any sort of brilliance to a piece of poetry is called alamkara.
On the basis of this notion, the Poetics was termed Alamkarasastra,
and the books on Poetics were named as Kavyalamkara (Bhamaha),
Kavyalamkara-sar-samgraha (Udbhata), Kavyalamkara-sutra-vrtti
(Vamana) and Kavyalamkara (Rudrata). This tendency went on even
upto later centuries: Vagbhatalamkara (Vagbhata I, 12 th c. A.D.),
Alamkara-sarvasva
(Ruyyaka,
12thc.A.D.),
Alamkara-sekhara
(Kesavamisra, 16thc.A.D.). Owing to taking the word ‗alamkara‘ in its
wide sense, not only the alamkaras (the figures of speech) like
Anuprasa and Upama, but rasa, guna, riti, etc. were also included
under its umbrella‖.(14)
There seems to be wide disagreement between Indian aesthetician regarding
what to include as figures of speech. The exponents of Alamkaravadin
School of poetry especially, Bhamaha and Dandin include rasa, bhava, riti,
guna, vritti etc. under alamkara. To them these are all decorative means by
which poets can embellish poetry. It is a sovereign virtue of poetry.
However, the advocates of Rasavadin school of poetry especially, Rudrata
and Kuntaka never agreed with it. In their view, rasa, bhava, riti, guna, vritti
etc. are objects of embellishment. The function of alamkaras is to give the
touch of radiance to these objects of poetry. These scholars agree to treat
upama (simile), rupaka (metaphor), shelsha (pun), hetu (intension), sukshma
and lesa as alamkara. These alamkara, if are successful in creating rasa, are
called as rasavadalamkara. This leads to aesthetic pleasure of Sahrdaya.
However, is not compulsory element in creating rasa.
223
6.3. Types of Figures of Speech
It is a common fact that what appears in everyday speech as figure of speech
is also found in literature, especially in poetry. It is only that their use is
rather thoughtful, conscious, artistic and delicate. The Old Testament and the
New Testament of Bible are the primary sources of the influence on world
literature. These books are full of figures of speech. The figures of speech
suggest or associate meaning which is beyond the scope of colloquial
speech. In European literary tradition, Greek and Roman tradition in
particular, the figures of speech seem to have been classified into five
categories namely 1. Figures of speech of resemblance and relationship
(simile, conceit, synecdoche etc.), 2. Figures of emphasis or understatement
(antithesis, climax, paradox etc.), 3.Figures of sound (alliteration, repetition,
onomatopoeia), 4.Verbal gymnast (pun, anagram etc.) and 5.Errors
(malapropism, spoonerism etc.).
Gideon O. Burton of Brigham Young University created online dictionary
―Silva Rhetoricae‖ for figures of speech which is available on the website
‗www.rhetoric.byu.edu.‘ that gives 97 Greek or Latin figures of speech as
the following categories.1. Figures of Parallelism, 2.Figures of Balance,
3.Figures of definition, 4.Figures of division, 5. Figures of order, 6. Figures
of repetition, 7.Figures of pathos, 8.Figures of ethos, 9. Figures of
interruption, 10. Figures of grammar, 11.Figures of reasoning, 12.Figures
playing on language, 13.Figures of refutation. Significant figures among
which are as follows:
1. Homoioptoton: The repetition of similar case endings in adjacent words or
in words in parallel position. 2. Syllepsis: When a single word that governs
or modifies two or more other words and that word must be understood
differently with respect to each of those words. It is a combination of
grammatical parallelism and semantic incongruity. 3. Isocolon: A series of
224
similarly structured elements having the same length. 4. Homoioteleuton:
Similarity of endings of adjacent or parallel words.5. Climax: Generally, the
arrangements of words, phrases or clauses in an order of increasing
importance, often in parallel structure. 6. Syncrisis: Comparison and contrast
in parallel clauses. 7.Tricolon: Three parallel elements of the same length
occurring together in a series. 8. Isocolon: A series of similarly structured
elements having the same length. 9. Antithesis: Juxtaposition of contrasting
ideas. 10. Climax: Generally, the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses
in an order of increasing importance, often in parallel structure. 11. Dirimens
copulation: A figure by which one balances one statement with a contrary,
qualifying statement. 12. Antithesis: Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas. 13.
In utrumque partes: Arguing both sides of an issue. 14.Horismus: Providing
a clear, brief definition, easily by explaining differences betweenassociated
terms. 15. Antonomasia: Substituting a descriptive phrase for a proper name,
or substituting a proper name for a quality associated with it. 16.
Circumlocution: Supplying a descriptive phrase in place of a name. 17.
Systrophe: The listing of many qualities or descriptions of someone or
something, without providing an explicit definition. 18.
Correction: To
amend a term or phrase one has just employed. 19. Auxesis and meiosis
(Tapinosis): These terms involve a kind of redefining – referring to
something in terms disproportionately large or small. 20. Parenthesis: A
lexical interruption may include a kind of explanation or definition,
suggested by one Latin synonym provided (by Suarez) for this term,
"Interpretatio." 21. Synonymia: Employing multiple terms for the same idea
is a kind of explanation ordefinition. 22. Exergasia (Expolitio): Repetition of
the same idea in different words, which can serve the purpose of explaining
or defining that idea. 23. Merismus: The dividing of a whole into parts. 24.
Diaeresis: The logical division of a genus into its species. 25. Distributio: A
synonym for Diaeresis or Merismus. 26. Eutrepismus: Numbering and
ordering the parts under consideration.27. Enumeratio: Dividing a subject
225
into its adjuncts, a cause into its effects, or an antecedent into its
consequents. 28. Taxis: To divide a subject up into its various components or
attributes.29. Distrbutio: Assigning roles among or specifying the duties of a
list of people, sometimes accompanied by a conclusion. 30. Dialysis: To
spell out alternatives.31. Expeditio: After enumerating all possibilities by
which something could have occurred, the speaker eliminates all but
one.32.Dilemma: Offering to an opponent a choice between two (equally
unfavorable) alternatives.33. Prosapodosis: Providing a reason for each
division of a statement. 34. Tmesis: Interjecting a word or phrase between
parts of a compound word or between syllables of a word. 35. Eutrepismus:
Numbering and ordering the parts under consideration. 36. Enumeration:
Dividing a subject into its adjuncts, a cause into its effects, or an antecedent
into its consequents. 37. Taxis: To divide a subject up into its various
components or attributes. 38. Merismus: The dividing of a whole into its
parts. 39. Parecbasis: Digressing from the logical order of a speech. 40.
Chiasmus: Repetition of ideas in inverted order. 41. Hysteron proteron:
Ordering out of chronology. 42. Catacosmesis: Ordering words from greatest
to least in dignity, or in correct order of time. 43. Hyperbaton: The inversion
of normal word order. A general term.44. Anastrophe: Departure from
normal word order. 45. Antimetabole: Repetition of words in reverse
grammatical order. 46. Acrostic: Ordering words in successive lines so their
first letters spell something or follow alphabetical order. 47. Climax: The
arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing
importance. 48. Catacosmesis: Ordering words from greatest to least in
dignity, or in correct order of time. 49. Hypallage: Shifting the application of
words. Mixing the order of which words should correspond with which
others. 50. Hysterologia: Interrupting the order of a preposition and its object
with an inserted phrase. 51. Parenthesis: Insertion of a verbal unit that
interrupts normal syntactical order. 52. Metathesis: The transposition of
letters within a word. 53. Cacosyntheton: The incorrect or unpleasant
226
ordering of words. 54. Synchysis: The confused arrangement of words in a
sentence. Hyperbaton or anastrophe taken to an obscuring extreme,
accidentally or purposefully. 55. Hysterologia: Interrupting the order of a
preposition and its object with an inserted phrase.
However, it is attainable to classify the figures of speech majorly as 1.
Figures of speech based on comparison, 2. Figures of speech based on
substitution, 3. Figures of speech based on contrast, 4. Figures of speech
based on arrangements and 5. Miscellaneous figures of speech as they
represent different fields of modern semantics. Stylistic study of figures of
speech only does not get pleased at discovering the figures of speech from
the instances of poems, but also, it aims at inventing the correlations and the
poetic effects that are produced by the employment of the figures of speech
in the poem. It adds clarity to the language and makes it a forceful resource
of the poetic effects.
6.3.1. Figures of Speech based on Comparison
Figures of speech based on comparison add clarity to language by forcefully
putting two objects side by side. The objects compared are not of similar
kind, in which case it would be a mere comparison and not a figure of
speech. For a comparison to become figure of speech it must transcends the
mechanical boundaries of stereotyped patterns and the comparison should be
between objects of different kind. Figures of speech based on comparison as
Dr. Johnson points out ennoble the object of comparison. However, it is not
any type of comparison, because if it is a comparison between two things of
the same kind it does not produce poetic effect. Stephen Levinson (1983:
154) illustrates the distinction in order to show that metaphor is rather
pragmatic phenomenon:
227
―Now many authors are agreed that there is a contrast between
comparisons and similes. Thus (197) is a comparison, (198) a simile
(from Ortony, 1979b: 191):
(197) Encyclopaedias are like dictionaries
(198) Encyclopaedias are like gold mines
The first is true, the second, arguably, is literally false; the first
admits of empirical versification, the second, arguably, does not (at
least when read as a simile); the first draws attention to certain key
attributes shared by both kinds of volumes (e.g. they are both
reference books, and both alphabetically organized), the second to
less salient and very abstract shared attributes (e.g. value,
labyrinthine nature, etc.). In short, the similarity in (197) is a literal
one; the similarity in (198) is figurative. And of course it is not to
comparison like (197) that metaphor is closely related, but to similes
like (198). Thus we see immediately that if we relate (198) to the
metaphor (199), we are no more clear about how (198) is actually
interpreted than we are about how metaphors like (199) are
understood.‖
(199) Encyclopaedias are gold mines
To interpret both (198) and (199) we seem to have to infer some
analogy of the sort:
(200) knowledge: value: encyclopaedias: : gold : value : gold mines
where the italicized terms are implicit. And even then we have only
pushed the problem back a step, for how we understand that analogy
is still mysterious. We therefore appear to have gained little or
nothing by considering that the semantic representation of metaphors
228
should be identical to the representations of the corresponding
similes‖. (15)
It is penetrating intellect of poet to carry his readers to a point where he
could show similarity between unlikely objects. This fact forefronts the idea
that in his primitive stage man observed all objects without any special
distinction. Later as his intellect sharpened, he distinguished the difference
between the objects. Figures of speech based on comparison mark his
primitive human instinct to view objects alike though objects compared look
different seemingly; they possess common ground to share. It is interesting
to note that linguistic insight offers many novel ideas to tackle the problems
of similarity and dissimilarity. One of such insights is that no two words, so
two objects, are identical and no two objects are completely different from
one another. Compatibility or incompatibility of two words depends mostly
on its referential, descriptive, social, or cognitive attributes that is taken into
consideration while evaluating the expression. John Lyons (1981: 148)
evaluates the concept of synonymy in the following manner that sheds a
bright light on the problem as to why any two words do not contain absolute
sameness:
―Meaning ….. can be descriptive, expressive and social; and many
lexemes combine two of these or all three. If synonymy is defined as
identity of meaning, then lexemes can be said to be completely
synonymous (in a certain range of context) if and only if they have the
same descriptive, expressive and social meaning (in the range of
contexts in question). They may be described as absolutely
synonymous if and only if they have the same distribution and are
completely synonymous in all their meanings and in all their contexts
of occurrence. It is generally recognized that complete synonymy of
lexemes is relatively rare in natural languages and that absolute
synonymy, as it is here defined, is almost non-existent‖.(16)
229
In case of understanding antonyms, oppositeness and dissimilarity are not
adequate. Modern semanticists have explored many areas of possibility
where antonymy is possible like binary antonymy (if something is true, it
cannot be false.), Converses (X is the father of Y, means Y is the son of X.),
Gradable antonyms (hot, warm, cool, trepid, cold) and Multiple antonyms
(Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). This classification supports the idea
that each pair of word has one or other kind of antonymy, but like absolute
synonymy, absolute antonymy is also not possible. These observations
suggest that there is always scope for creative artist for comparison between
two different words or two different objects, provided it must suffice for
aesthetic pleasure.
The comparison between two words or two objects approves the fact that we
organize the world around us as we comprehend it. It proves the
psychological fact that the world is as much internal factor as much it is
external. Whenever we express more abstract facts, we bring factors that are
more concrete into comparison. This process shows how we organize the
world around us. That is how we simplify the ideas for effective
communication. Whereas in simile very limited kind of scope for
interpretation to readers is provided, since it is a direct comparison, in
metaphor more scope is allotted to readers in order to interpret it, as it is an
indirect comparison. In their book on and entitled as ―Grammaticalization‖,
Hopper and Traugott (1993: 85) relate the idea of grammaticalization to
comparative process of metaphor. Grammaticalization refers to the study of
language change that is how certain elements come into certain context to
serve certain grammatical function and how such grammatical items develop
new grammatical functions. They observe as follows:
―Probably the most appealing examples of metaphoric processes in
grammaticalization
are
provided
by
the
development
of
spatiotemporal terms. Claudi and Heine (1986), Claudi, and
230
Hunnemeyer (1991a,b) discuss the development of body part terms
into locatives, of spatial into temporal, etc. in terms of metaphors
such as SPACE IS AN OBJECT, TIME IS SPACE (capitals indicate
abstract, cross-linguistic meanings, as opposed to language-specific
lexical items). For example, spatial terms such as BEHIND can be
derived metaphorically from a body part (an example of the shift from
OBJECT › SPACE), and subsequently temporal terms can be derived
metaphorically from the spatial term (via SPACE ›TIME), e.g. We are
behind in paying our bills. Spatial terms abound cross-linguistically
as temporal particles, auxiliaries, etc. (see Traugott 1978, 1985a;
Bybee and Dahl 1989; Bybee, Pagliuca, and Perkins 1991 on
expressions of the future). A few examples from English which have
been regarded as metaphorical in origin include be going to (future),
in the years ahead (future), drink something up/down (completive),
drink on (continuative), come to believe that (ingressive). Extensive
examples from African languages can be found in Heine, Claudi, and
Hunnemeyer (1991a, b), and from Oceanic languages in Lichtenberk
(1991b) (e.g., GO for continuative and future, COME for ingressive
and future). Svorou (1993) and Haspelmath (1997) provide detailed
cross-linguistic evidence for SPACE ›TIME‖. (17)
The figures of speech based on comparison may be many but out of them
three are very significant. Conceit, along with simile and metaphor are
dominant figures of speech of comparison. As found earlier, simile and
metaphor do not only vary in respect of structure but also differ in respect of
their interpretative yield. Simile provides mostly one to one relation that is
many times it is possible to evaluate simile without considering the system
of simile, if any. But in case of metaphor used in poetry it is many a times a
part of system and has to evaluate as a part of system. Conceit is described as
a figure of speech in which heterogeneous ideas are yoked together by
violent force. In case of simile and metaphor, different objects are compared
231
many times it is conventional comparison that is known and accepted by the
readers very easily. In conceit the comparison is not only farfetched but also
shocking sometime even whimsical where the poet expects his readers to see
beyond the apparent incongruity to find congruity. Though generally it is
accepted that every metaphor can be extended into simile and every simile
can be reduced into metaphor, Leech (1977: 156) develops his argument to
explore the distinction between simile and metaphor while analyzing
translatability between them as follows:
―Simile is an overt, and metaphor a covert comparison. This means
that for each metaphor, we can devise a roughly corresponding
simile, by writing out tenor and vehicle side by side, and indicating
(by like or some other formal indicator) the similarity between them. ‗
The ship ploughs the waves‘, a stock classroom metaphor, may be
translated into a simile as follows: ‗The ship goes through the waves
like a plough ploughing the land.‘……..
[c] Simile can specify the ground of the comparison: in ‗I wandered
as lonely as a cloud‘ have in common. Also a simile can specify the
manner of comparison, which may, for example, be a relationship of
inequality, as well as equality: ‗In number more than are the
quivering leaves/ Of Ida‘s forest‘ [II Tamburlaine, III V]. It is more
flexible, in this respect, than metaphor.
[d] Metaphor, on the other hand, is inexplicit with regard to both the
ground of comparison, and the things compared. This is not only a
matter of indefiniteness, as noted in [b] above, but ambiguity.
Consider the line ‗This sea that bares her bosom to the moon‘
[Wordsworth, The World is too much with us ]. Taking ‗bares her
bosom‘ to be figurative, construct the skeleton tenor ‗This sea that
does-something-or-other to the moon.‘‖.(18)
232
Elaborating the same point Philip Eubanks (2011: 143) remarks that
metaphor is taken to assert that language or communication is always in the
process of packaging, sending and unpackaging pre-existent meanings and it
combines two worlds, ethical world and the description of the surrounding
world. Moreover, he believes as follows:
―Most commentators carry on the Aristotelian habit of analyzing
metaphors one at a time, as if a metaphor amounts simply to a
projection of one or more features from one discrete domain onto
another. But metaphors do not work alone. As George Lakoff and
Mark Johnson have demonstrated well, conceptual metaphors operate
most commonly as part of larger conceptual systems (M. Johnson
1993; Lakoff 1996; Lakoff and Johnson 1999). We cannot, therefore,
gain important insight into a single metaphor without also
considering the metaphors that support it and to which it responds.
Accordingly, the conduit Metaphor is part of an interrelated, dynamic
conceptual system that includes the metaphor/metonymies Writing Is
Speech, Ideas Are Objects, Argument Is War, Truth Is Light,
Understanding Is A Journey, and surely others‖. (19)
Thus it can be summarized that in simile, two things or actions of different
kinds are compared and is introduced usually by the words such as like, as or
so .. as, an overt comparison. Simple simile consists only brief likeness.
Homeric simile aims at extended comparison that develops into a descriptive
picture. Metaphor in a sense is an implied simile, a covert comparison. In
metaphor the comparison is made by identifying one with the other.
Compared to simile, metaphor is direct comparison without using like, as or
so...as. Conceit is a farfetched comparison between two objects that are
extremely different, even whimsical but results into amusingly witty
expression.
233
6.3.1. 1. Simile
P.B.Shelley‘s ‗Ode to the West Wind‘ exhibits fine examples of simile as
follows.
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth
The dead withered leaves have the living force within them so that they can
quicken a new life. The expression in the poem ‗ashes and sparks‘ hints at
the coexistence of life and death force. The comparison suggests dead
thoughts also have power to give birth to new thoughts. Unless and until old
ideas cease to exist, a new idea may not take birth, however it does not mean
that old is useless. It has its own values and it certainly drives new ideas
positively. Here, the comparison is suggestive. The explicit comparison is
between thoughts and leaves. This comparison initiates a few other
comparisons i.e. the poet is compared with tree and the wind is compared
with philosophy, who can guide the poet to eliminate his dead thoughts.
6.3.1. 2. Metaphor
Metaphor is a comparison by identifying one with the other object. The
comparison is between the target domain and the source domain. The target
domain is idea that we want to describe and the source domain is the concept
we draw upon. In stylistics, it is regarded as a process of mapping between
two different conceptual domains.
‗
Ode to the West Wind‘ by P.B. Shelley is a fine example of overt and covert
comparisons. Implied metaphor frees readers from all kinds of restrictions on
interpretations, whereas, similes put constraints on free comparison and the
limits to comparison are fixed. Metaphors used in the poem have suggestive
power. As per dhvani theory many times poetic language acquires
suggestiveness even without embellishment of any kind.
234
O thou, /Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed /The winged seeds/
Here two comparisons are possible between the driver of the chariot and
West Wind on one hand and the winged seeds and the passengers on the
other hand. The West Wind is a target domain and the driver of the chariot is
a source domain. The expression ‗The wintry bed‘ also evokes the
comparison between the wintry bed and the death bed. The word ‗dark‘
suggests death. However it is interesting to note that in this case the dead
ones are the leaves referred as ‗winged seeds‘ probably because they can
travel from one place to other. It is interesting to imagine that when leaves
move from one place to other, it looks like wings itself. It brings before our
eyes the image of bird, especially Phoenix because this mythical bird is
believed to reincarnate from its ashes. Here, seeds are presented as dead
leaves, because as per as botany is considered there are many varieties of
plants that are germinated by its leaves. Now such dead leaves have wings,
because they are carried from place to place. Like phoenix, the dead leaves
shall germinate plants.
Still more interesting to note that the metaphor and simile mechanism used
in the poem allows the poet to explore his theme, life within death or death
within life. This mechanism of comparison allows the poet opportunities to
show his readers how the contraries of ‗life force‘ and ‗death‘ coexist. This
mechanism further creates the possibility of confusion between life and
death. The dead ones are treated as having life force within them. The living
ones are treated as if they are dead. Hurford Heasley and Smith believe that
metaphors are conceptual (mental) operations reflected in language and it
helps the poet to structure the idea in more experimental terms. The
structural metaphor, which seems to be present in figurative expressions of
the language of the poems is LIFE IS DEATH or DEATH IS LIFE.
In the simile, ‗Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead are driven,
like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing‘, there is an overt comparison between
235
dead leaves and ghosts. The leaves are treated as if having life force because
are threatened and are made to flee. Further it is interesting to note that the
dead leaves are deposited at the bottom of Atlantic Ocean. Though they are
dead, yet they can hear and recognize the voice of the wind and despoil. The
metaphors and similes in the poem show the fuzzy boundaries between life
and death.
Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud !
I fall upon the thorns of life ! I bleed!
Here the comparison is suggested between a wave, a leaf and a cloud on one
hand and the poet on the other hand. All the three objects are lifeless, but the
comparison suggests that they have life force within them. It becomes
apparent when the poet says ‗I bleed‘, only living things can bleed. The very
last line of the poem, which is in fact a rhetorical question, reiterates the
same idea.
‗If winter comes can spring be far behind?‘
Winter is the season of the year in Europe when the nature becomes barren
so stands for death and spring is the season when plants sprout out so stands
for life. Thus the mechanism of metaphor and simile offer the poem a system
to foreground the idea of coexistence of life and death forces.
William Wordsworth‘s ‗The solitary Reaper‘ deals with comparison. It is
very difficult to judge what kind of comparison it is? Is it metaphor or
simile? Surely it is not simile because the comparison is not initiated by the
words ‗like‘, ‗as‘, ‗so as‘ etc. To call it metaphor, there should be at least
some sort of suggestion for comparison. The following lines of the poem are
assumed to have comparison.
1. ‗No Nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands,‘
236
2. ‗A voice so thrilling ne‘er was heard
In spring – time from the cuckoo – bird‘
The lines if read in isolation, look like informative sentences without any
intention of comparison. However when read in the context of the poem i.e.,
a solitary girl who is singing a melancholy song while reaping the corn in
some valley which is overflowing with her sound, the lines above acquire
comparison. The hints are available in the lines themselves. Firstly, the
words ‗Nightingale‘ and ‗Cuckoo‘ are capitalized against the norm.
Secondly, like the girl the birds are also lonely. Moreover, all the three are
doing the function of pacification of the minds. Lastly, all the three songs are
sung on the background of melancholic loneliness. Suggestive power of the
language of the poem comes through the contextual understanding of the
lines.
Metaphors are not only made up of words or sentences, but it involves a kind
of thought process itself. Metaphor shows how primly the poet perceives the
world around? Lakoff (1992: 5) observes in his on line article as follows:
―The metaphor is not just a matter oflanguage, but of thought and
reason. The language is secondary. The mapping is primary,in that it
sanctions the use of source domain language and inference patterns
for targetdomain concepts. The mapping is conventional, that is, it is
a fixed part of our conceptualsystem‖.(20 )
In Robert Frost‘s ―Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening‖, though words
and lines do not allow any scope to find metaphor, the entire narrative of the
poem projects the mapping between two domain ‗life‘ and ‗journey‘. The
poem seems to revolve around the metaphor ‗LIFE IS JOURNEY‘.
237
Pakistani poet Daud Kamal‘s ‗Hurricane Lamp‘ is philosophical poem
centered on the temporary nature of everything. The poem begins with a line
from Wallace Stevens‘s poem: ‗The Fatality of seeing things too well‘. If
one goes into the details of something, he is likely to be disappointed. Cracks
appear on everything like pitchers, glaciers, human faces sooner or later but
without fail. The title ‗Hurricane Lamp‘ hints at the idea that one should not
try to see the things closely, lest they be disappointed. Seeing dreams may
not be wrong but if one tries to bring it in to reality, one gets
disappointed.The metaphorical and suggestive tone of the poem becomes
apparent as it can be observed in the following lines.
Dreams accumulate
and harden into reality.
Carrion crows
drink from a rain-puddle.
A few steps away
women labourers carry bricks
on their heads.
Each stardrowns in its light.
The word ‗harden‘ indicates wearisome nature of reality. Carrion crow may
drink from rain puddle taking it as a elixir but there is no possibility of its
survival as it is suggested in the carrion crow, because crow is traditionally
very close to different rituals of death. ‗Carrion crow‘ is a bird that feeds on
the rotten flesh of animals. It is ironically suggestive that the bird that feeds
on the rotten flesh one day shall die and become the rotten flesh itself.
Drowning of star in its own light acquires melancholic tones.
Metaphor seems to be inseparable part of Asian writing in English. Pakistani
poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz‘s ‗My Guests‘, is full of metaphoric expressions. In
238
this poem he employs expressions like ‗a carpet of despair‘, ‗the wound of
memory‘ and ‗whips of flame‘ to express the melancholic mood in evening,
morning and afternoon respectively. Despair, wound and whips suggest the
wearisome aspects of life.
Famida Riaz while expressing her agonies of separation for centuries in her
poems, ‗Voice of Stone‘ uses the following expression.
I have stood, embracing it,
collecting your breath in a torn shawl.
It is obvious that one cannot collect breath, thus it suggests she is collecting
memories of somebody as she may collect flowers in her torn shawl, as it is a
love poem. The suggesting tone of the poem becomes very apparent.
David Rubadiri‘s ‗A Negro Labourer at Liverpool‘ exemplifies the pathetic
situation of the average Negro in African countries. The poet reveals the
suppression of individuality of Negro in a white dominated society. Their
existence is no more than shadows. Marginality, indifference and loss of
identity are foregrounded through the comparison of Negros with the
shadows. It is a shadow without any identity, authenticity or reality of being.
There is no ray of hope regarding help from outsiders. The only thing they
can expect is understanding. Their back has been bent by oppression,
colonialism and collective submission. He tries to attain free manhood, but
ironically finds that it is impossible even in the land of the free i.e. in
England. Nevertheless, the free here are also dead, in a state of decay and
stagnation, for they grope for a ray of hope. It is very significant to note that
he uses certain metaphors to express the theme of racial discrimination. The
following lines from the poem are exemplary of this.
Ex. No.1 No hope or longing for a hope promised;
Only the quick cowed dart of eyes
239
Piercing through impassive crowds
Ex No.2 A heavy heart
With the load of a century‘s oppression,
As it can be noticed, each of the two groups of lines above contains
metaphors. In the first group eyes are compared with dart that is piercing
through impassive crowds. It is interesting to note that ‗dart‘ is modified
with two adjectives ‗quick‘ and ‗cowed‘. This works as a fine example of the
Negros plight in Africa. It is a dart because there is contempt in the mind of
the Negro against the discrimination at the same time there is fear in his
mind so it is ‗cowed‘. Yet, it is ‗quick‘ because he wishes strongly to find
fellow feeling among the emotionless crowd. In the second group of lines ‗a
heavy heart‘ may be taken as a traditional metaphor; a heart that is heavy
with the weight of suffering. However the same phrase is modified with a
prepositional phrase ‗with the load of a century‘s oppression‘, the heaviness
mentioned in the NP seems to have a good reason to understand ‗heaviness‘
in what sense? The word ‗load‘ attributes it with the century‘s oppression. So
the meaning arrived at is not oppression inflicted by the century, but the
oppression that was continued for a century. Thus the word ‗load‘ does not
convey the meaning ‗physical weight‘ but it acquires a new semantic value
that is ‗the weight counted in terms of days, months, years and
century‘.Therefore, the conceptual on which the poem revolves is ‗ TIME IS
WEIGHT‘.
The process of metaphor is a conventional way of thinking and is not remote
to human thought. From the above discussion, it so seems that the poets try
to employ novel metaphor however they cannotaltogether give up the
traditional ones. Shelley may employ a traditional metaphor like ‗thorns of
life‘ but other metaphors like ‗winged seeds‘, ‗wintry bed‘ are novel
metaphors but are built on traditional ideas e.g. ‗Winter is old age.‘ is a
240
traditional metaphor. ‗Wintry bed‘ seems to be derived from the traditional
metaphor only. Paul Simpson (2011: 92) observes in this relation as follows:
―The idea that a particular metaphor is ‗novel‘ can be understood in
a number of ways. It can be understood as referring for example to
the newness or uniqueness of a conceptual mapping between a source
and target domain, or alternatively, to a strikingly method of
expression which a writer uses to relay a metaphor. However, taking
the idea further requires that we work from the background
assumption that most metaphorical mappings are transmitted through
familiar, commonly occurring linguistic expressions‖. (21)
Thus, poetic metaphor is an extension of our everyday conventional system
of metaphorical thought as it is viewed by Lakoff and Turner (1989).
6.3.1.3. Conceit
‗The Sunne Rising‘ by the metaphysical poet John Donne is a poem that
expresses the self-sufficiency of lovers who are shut in a room to the
exclusion of the world outside. The poem proceeds through a series of
comparisons glorifying the mistress. The poem is marked not only of
farfetched comparisons but also of hyperbolic comparisons all through the
poem as it is evident in the following lines.
Thy beams, so reverend, and so strong,
Why should thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long:
The line ‗I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink‘ is at once stands for
farfetched conceit and hyperbolic comparison. As far as astronomy is
considered, only moon can eclipse the sun, in that sense the poet is compared
241
with the moon. The moon traditionally stands for the act of love as in the
poem the lovers are shut in the room to the exclusion of the world for love
making. The expression is humorously hyperbolic in the sense that though it
is beyond human powers to eclipse the sun, yet the effect can be achieved
simply by closing the eyes. The time taken for winking is a less than
moment, but the lover feels that it is so lengthy that he cannot afford in doing
so. In the third stanza of the poem, the poet extends the comparison.
She is all States, and all Princes, I,
Nothing else is.
The untraditional and farfetched comparison between the beloved and the
states is noteworthy. Probably the comparison hints at the empirical zeal of
the time to expand the empires. The richness of the kingdom was counted on
the basis of the expansion of the empire so the plural word ‗states‘ is
employed. Since the lovers experience the whole universe in their tiny bed
they are richest in the world. That is not possible for the sun that sees only
one side of the universe so he is half happy and the only remedy left to the
sun is warming the bed which is comparatively a universe itself.
T. S. Eliot‘s poem ‗The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock‘ (1915) presents
short scenes from modern urban life to show the inadequacy and
purposelessness. In fact it is a psychological pen portrait of a man who has
lost faith in the life and in himself. It is interesting to note that this loss of
faith is not directly communicated by the poet but is suggested by choices of
farfetched comparisons.
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table
242
Here the comparison is between the evening and the patient, the comparison
is farfetched, etherized condition of the patient typically shows that the
speaker is in half-awakened and half-sleep consciousness. It brings to the
forefront the psychological truth that we see outside world as our inside
world permits us to see. The speaker in the poem himself seems to have been
under the abnormal state of mind.Thus this conceit helps the readers to peep
inside the mind of Prufrock.
Heterogeneous ideas may be derived from different fields, which do not bear
any resemblance at all. Dilip Chitre‘s ‗Father Returning Home‘ is a picture
of a father who is forced to return to home where dull, drab and daily routine
life waits for him. The conceit occurs in the poem as follows.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence
Here the comparisons between heterogeneous ideas are made. ‗Train‘ and
‗sentence‘ are compared as well as ‗the father‘ and ‗word‘ are compared.
The complete modern world has become like a long train to which it does
not matter who joins it or leaves it. These entries and exits not only hint at
busy nature of modern life but also aim at intellectual dominance (as shown
by the comparison with the long sentence) of modern life where heart has a
very little role to play.
6.3.2. Figures of Speech Based on Substitution
Figures of speech based on substitution bring two objects together by placing
one at the place of other. One object is identified as other due to the close
association between them. The recognition of such type depends upon the
sharpened senses of the perceiver in case of poem it is the poet, who
recognizes the association between the object named and the object actually
243
meant. In case of metonymy, things are substituted for one another even
without any association. Thus readers are forced to look at the association
rather than easily made available. In one sense readers are free to choose the
suggested object in accordance with their experience-world.In case of
synecdoche, there is a close organic connection between the thing named and
the thing actually meant. There are six varieties of metonymy: Symbol for
the thing symbolized as Union jack stands for Britain, the container stands
for the thing contained as in ‗I drank the bottle‘, cause for the effect as in
‗Don‘t run in the moon‘, the instrument for the agent as in ‗the pen is
mightier than the sword‘, the maker or the author for his work as in ‗I saw
Michael Angelo‘ and the name of a feeling for its object as in ‗Sachin is the
pride of India.‘
Whereas, there are also six varieties of synecdoche too: the part for the
whole as in ‗Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown‘ , the whole for the
part as in ‗India won the match‘, the concrete for the abstract as in ‗The
father in me was allowed to inquire the students progress‘, the abstract for
the concrete as in ‗Ambition did not allow me the ease.‘, an individual for a
class as in ‗Kalidasa is the Shakespeare of India‘ and material for the thing
made as in ‗I wear cotton‘. Like synecdoche, in antonomasia proper name is
used instead of a common noun. The only difference is that in synecdoche
the definite article ‗the‘ is used, whereas in antonomasia indefinite articles ‗a
or an‘ are used. ‗Kalidasa is the Shakespeare of India‘, means Kalidasa is the
greatest tragedian of India. ‗Kalidasa is a Shakespeare of India‘, means
Kalidasa is a dramatist of India. In personification, inanimate objects are
spoken of as living persons. Abstract qualities also some time possess human
attributes.
Personification
is
recognized
by
different
names
like
anthropomorphism, zoomorphism, pathetic fallacy and prosopoeia where
more or less the qualities of person are attributed to inanimate objects,
animals or natural phenomena with exception to zoomorphism where the
qualities of animals are attributed to person. In apostrophe, a person absent
244
or dead or personified objects are directly addressed. Thus there is
personification of the objects and then address can be made.
6.3.2. 1. Metonymy
In John Milton‘s ‗On His Blindness‘, the poet while narrating his blindness
says that ‗When I consider how my light is spent‘. In metonymy, one object
is substituted for the other. The former has a close association with the later.
Though the poet says, ‗my light is spent‘, the readers derive the meaning that
‗my life is spent‘. It is because one cannot imagine ‗life‘ without ‗light‘.
‗Light‘ has close association with ‗life‘. Light and darkness are the most
celebrated themes of Milton‘s poetry.
6.3.2. 2. Synecdoche
In Browning‘s ‗My Last Duchess‘, the duke allows the delegation of visitors
to see the portrait of his last duchess. In order to show his supremacy and
possession of all costly things, the duke goes on exhibiting his riches. Where
the following lines occur.
I call
That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf‘s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Here, the duke describes how the portrait was framed by Fra Pandolf, the
greatest painter of the time. Instead of saying ‗Fra Pandolf worked busily a
day‘; he says ‗Fra Pandolf‘s hands worked busily a day‘. However, the
meaning that readers receive is ‗Fra Pandolf worked‘. Thus the part
represents the whole. This synecdoche helps the duke to draw the attention
of his guests towards his superiority. Had he said ‗Fra Pandolf worked busily
a day‘, he would have missed the opportunity of pointing his family relations
with the famous personalities of the time. The word ‗hands‘ is also used in
the phrases like ‗to join hands‘ and ‗to shake hands‘.
245
6.3.2. 3. Antonomasia
This is a figure of speech in which proper noun is used as a common noun
for example ‗He was a Shakespeare of India‘. It means ‗He was a dramatist
of India.‘ In T. S. Eliot‘s ‗The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock‘, Prufrock
says as follows.
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be
Am an attendant Lord.
Here ‗Prince Hamlet‘ is almost used as a common noun. Though as per the
traditions of Antonomasia, proper noun should be preceded by indefinite
article ‗a‘, here zero article is used before the proper noun, it functions like
indefinite sense. Here, ‗Prince Hamlet‘ carries the sense an indecisive
person. Prufrock may not agree but he is an indecisive in many respects. He
keeps on saying that ‗There will be time‘. The poet on the other hand wants
to suggest that he is a comic figure rather than tragic because comedy is the
greatest tragedy in the word.
6.3.2. 4. Personification
It is a tendency of some poets to credit nature, object, inanimate and even
abstract notions with human emotions, Ruskin termed it as ‗Pathetic fallacy‘.
By doing so, they are allowed to take interest in human action and human
world. In Robert Browning‘s ‗My Last Duchess‘, the duke while
appreciating the beauty of duchess says ‗Paint must never hope to reproduce
the faint half flush that dies along her throat‘. Here, paint has been treated as
a person having hopes.
Personification is a common figure of speech but sometime poets employ it
as the internal system of the poem to demarcate animal force in unanimated
objects and ideas. R. Parthasarthy‘s ‗Delhi‘ employs such expressions as
follows: ‗The ochre air irritates the tongue‘, ‗Eight hundred years of blood246
letting has made eunuchs of us‘, ‗Now, atop the Himalaya unceremoniously
grins‘, ‗Time rests his hand on my shoulder‘, ‗Our pride bites the dust‘,
‗their distant tongue rasps my verse‘, and ‗Jamuna has forever covered its
spoors‘. These expressions contain such action words that can only be used
in case of person or animals. Actions like irritating, making, grinning,
resting, biting, rasping and covering are such actions, which can be
performed by humankind or animals. The application of the action with
abstract ideas or other unanimated object furnishes the ground to discover
ruthless corruption in Delhi.
6.3.2. 5. Apostrophe
Under great intensity of emotion we may talk to absent figures as if they are
present. Beyond intensity of emotions, poet gives equal treatment to
elevation of thought and elevation of language. In P. B. Shelley‘s ‗Ode to the
West Wind‘, the poet addresses the wind as follows.
O Wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn‘s being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing.
As it can be noticed that emotion is prevalent in the expression ‗O‘ and
beyond that alliterative sound /w/ is used to draw the attention. Simile used
in the stanza makes proper evaluation of the thought.
6.3.3. Figures of Speech Based on Contrast
Figures of speech based on contrast bring forth illogical and inconsistent
proposition. It is an element of opposition existing within the statement itself
that becomes the point of focus in the scheme of the meaning of the figure of
speech itself. The use of difference marks the hidden thematic meaning of
the poem, which would have been impossible, if stated explicitly. Paradox is
a self contradictory statement which due to its seemingly contradictory
247
nature appears as absurd but when thought closely it is really well founded
by driving home the point forcibly. In Antithesis, the contrast is brought by
juxtaposing opposing ideas in a grammatically balanced statement. The
balance occurs in a pleasing symmetry in harmonious proportion. Oxymoron
could be taken as a form of antithesis in which contradictory ideas are set
together for effect.
Epigram is a brief witty statement in which asperity is prescribed in such a
fashion that elicits surprise. Pun is a play on words. It is a form of wit in
which words are used in different senses. Irony is a figure of speech in which
the idea that the composer wants to convey is different from or usually
contrastive of the literal meaning of the words. In a sense, irony reveals the
conflict between reality and appearance. Unlike irony, Sarcasm does not
imply opposite of what one states but one does so in such a fashion that he
stimulates the opposite to the true to excite ridicule and to give pain.
Innuendo consists in damaging imputations by implying disparagement
meaning. Euphemism is a figure of speech to speak favorably in order to
avoid the bitterness. Periphrasis is an indirect expression, though it goes
against the rule of simplicity, it adds dignity and significance to the
expression.
6.3.3. 1. Antithesis
Antithesis is a figure of speech in which opposition of ideas is emphasized
by balancing words, phrases or sentences in such manner that it produces a
pleasing symmetry. Singaporean poet, Edwin Thumboo in his ‗Ulysses by
the Merlion‘ presents a fine example of intertextuality.
Intertextuality is a kind of a technique of ‗allusion‘ in which it often echoes
other texts. Thumboo‘s poem ‗Ulysses by the Merlion‘ not only reinterprets
the Greek myth of Ulysses, king of Ithaca but echoes Lord Tennyson‘s poem
‗Ulysses‘ by employing antithesis. In Tennyson‘s ‗Ulysses‘ the king returns
to his kingdom after having participated in the Trojan War. He is
248
disappointed by the backwardness of his people on the background of his
world view. He does not want to rest from travel. Edwin Thumboo‘s
‗Ulysses‘ has the same spirit. The only difference is that he nowhere
mentions his wish to continue his travel but expresses the Singaporean spirit
of the people to adapt with the situation of this newly formed colony. They
have changed their life yet retained the memories of ancestors. However
Thumboo‘s poem ‗Ulysses by the Merlion‘ retains many marks of the
original poem by Tennyson. The Merlion is a statue of lion on the sea shore
in Singapore. It stands for their new image along with the images of dragon,
phoenix, garuda and naga representing multi-culture of Singapore. Thumboo
employs the following antithesis in the poem.
I kept faith with Ithaca, travelled,
Travelled and travelled,
Suffering much, enjoying a little;
Met strange people singing
New myths; made myths myself.
Antithesis occurs in the line ‗suffering much, enjoying a little‘, where perfect
grammatical balance is brought between the phrases with the structure: Verb
+ ing + quantifier. This device helps the poet to echo the following lines
from Tennyson‘s ‗Ulysses‘.
I will drink life to the lees: all times I have enjoy‘d
Greatly, have suffer‘d greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore,
As it can be seen Thumboo‘s ‗Ulysses‘, suffered much like Tennyson‘s
‗Ulysses‘. Unlike Tennyson‘s ‗Ulysses‘, Thumboo‘s ‗Ulysses‘ did not enjoy
greatly.
Moreover, it can
be
noticed
249
that
Tennyson‘s ‗Ulysses‘
communicates enjoyment first in the preference to suffering, whereas
Thumboo‘s ‗Ulysses‘ communicates suffering first in the preference to
enjoyment. These findings help readers to interpret that Thumboo‘s
‗Ulysses‘ return to his island is permanent and he wants to stay with his
people.
P. K. Page‘s ‗Adolescence‘ submits the fine example of anti thesis. In
antithesis, the poet grammatically balances the opposing ideas in order to
convey similar pattern in the theme of the poem. ‗Adolescence‘ presents
portraits of two unformed youngster who fail to understand the values of
love. The poet uses antithesis in the poem to show their undecided
temperament.
they were as sharp as partly sculpture stone
and all who watched, forgetting, were amazed
to see them form and fade before their eyes.
Here antithesis occurs in the phrase ‗see them form and fade‘. Formation and
fading are exactly opposite ideas. These actions show undecided nature of
the youngster which ends into irritation.
6.3.3. 2. Oxymoron
It is a special form of antithesis, where two contradictory ideas are placed
side by side. Many a times one antonym is used as an adjective of the other
for example John Figueroa‘s ‗On Seeing the Reflection of Notre Dame in the
Seine‘ is a philosophical poem on the human efforts for betterment. The poet
realized that there cannot be any fixed plan as far as his destiny is
considered. However, he is sure regarding his own foretelling. He employs
oxymoron as follows.
This night‘s reflection
250
Steady in the moving stream
Knowing that he builds well
Who builds better than he knows.
Here, opposing ideas are ‗night‘ and ‗reflection‘. From the experience one
knows that night cannot have the reflection. Moreover, the oxymoron is
continued in the second line. The reflection remains steady in the moving
stream. Here, steady and moving are the opposing ideas. Thus ‗night‘s
reflection‘ can be interpreted that through the realization of ignorance, one
may hope for knowledge. The poet has to remain steady in the moving
stream of reflection to build better.
Shrilankan poet Chand R. Sirimanne in the poem ‗The Uncrossed Bridge‘ in
order to show the chaotic relationship with the speaker husband mentions
number of events. To intensify the depiction of the relationship of this type,
oxymoron is used in the phrase ‗accusing regrets‘. Accusing is an act of
blaming someone and regret is an act of blaming self. Thus it adds to the
story of husband and wife, an irresolvable mystery. One cannot settle on
regarding who is wrong? It is typically communicated in this oxymoron.
6.3.3.3. Paradox
Self-contradiction of the statement evokes psychological reaction on the part
of the reader. Apparent incongruity, when thought closely turns into higher
level of truth. Paradox illuminates a neglected aspect of a subject in
memorable manner. Judith Wright in her poem ‗Woman to Man‘ describes
man woman relationship in a peculiar manner by employing paradoxical
language. She uses the following paradox.
1.This is our hunter and our chase,
The third who lay in our embrace.
251
2. This is the maker and the made;
This is the question and reply;
The interpretation of these expressions cannot be supported empirically in
the sense that ‗hunter and chase‘, ‗the maker and the made‘ and ‗the question
and reply‘ cannot be the same entity. This inappropriateness is however
superficial. Man woman relations are as much recognized by sex that much
are recognized by the responsibility imposed on them by sex. The first
element in each above pair of words stand for pleasure and the second
elements stand for responsibility. In the last pair ‗the question and reply‘ the
distinction between pleasure and responsibility seems to have become so
blurry that they become one so that the poet employs the phrase ‗the question
and reply‘ and not as ‗the question and the reply‘.
W.B. Yeats in his poem ‗An Irish Airman foresees His death‘ presents the
monologue of an Irish airman and gives a perfect example of paradox as
follows.
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
Generally we fight with those we hate and guard those we love, but the poet
states the ideas completely opposite to that. When one reads the
circumstances one comes to know that he is fighting for England which is
not his country and he is fighting against those countries which are not the
enemies of Ireland.
6.3.3.4. Epigram
It is a brief expression that contains a lot of meaning and truth. Brevity, wit,
antithesis, paradox and surprise are the important qualities of epigrammatic
expression. Wole Soyinka‘s ‗To My First White Hairs‘ is a statement about
252
inevitability of amalgamation of different races in near future. This idea is
expressed by the poet through an epigram as follows.
THREE WHITE HAIRS! frail invaders of the undergrowth
interpret time.
It is very interesting to note how weak invaders can interpret time? The
phrase with the capital letters ‗THREE WHITE HAIRS‘, in the context of the
poem, stands for the white community who are very less in number in
comparison with the black community. However, graphologically the
capitalization in fact suggests though they are less in number they are strong
at the moment. The three white hairs have grown from the undergrowth. The
word ‗frail‘ simply shows that their white colour is weak in order to get
merged with any other colour. White people shall not easily accept black
people in their community. The paradox is that readersusually find that it is
time that interprets everything. However, in the line of the poem the three
hairs interpret the time. The number three shows that they are growing
slowly but steadily in a foreign land. The day will come when they will be
equal in number. Moreover, notwithstanding any obstacle, there is every
possibility of culture assimilation, race mixing and society merging. The
white hairs communicate this message in advance. In this way they interpret
the time.
6.3.3.5. Pun
Pun is form of wit in which the poet employs words in more than one sense.
It produces two or more contexts in which the expression can be vividly
understood.
Simpson (2011, p.45) observes in this regard as follows.
―Clearly, the pun is an important part of the stylistic arsenal of
writers because it allows a controlled ‗double meaning‘ to be located
253
in what is in effect a chance connection between two elements of
language. It is however a resource of language that we all share, and
it is important,…………. , not to sequester away literary uses of
language from everyday language practices‖.(22)
David Diop‘s ―Africa‖ is a dialogue between a young poet and a mature or
grave mind. Africa has been recognized for the proud warriors. His ancestors
used to sing songs of war and warriors. In spite of the fact that the black
blood flows into his veins, he knows very little about Africa. The Africans
have worked as slaves and with their sweats they enriched the lands.
Therefore, the poet wants to know the secrets of Africa. At this background,
the poet employs the following line.
But a grave voice answers me.
Here the poet has achieved the pun on the word ‗grave‘. ‗Grave‘ means
serious and tomb. To the question of the poet, what Africa is? One can
interpret that a serious voice answers him or a voice from tomb (his ancestor)
answers him about the bitter taste of liberty which is acquired by the young
people of Africa.
‗A Far Cry from Africa‘ by Derek Walcott deals with the theme of split
identity and anxiety caused by it in the face of the struggle in which the poet
could side with neither party. It is, in short, about the poet‘s ambivalent
feelings towards the Kenyan terrorists and the white colonial government
that they were ‗inhuman‘ during the independence struggle of the country in
the 1950s. To him both are beasts, the poet at this point in the poem says as
follows.
The violence of beast on beast is read as natural law
Here the pun is achieved on the word ‗read‘. In the sentence, the verb ‗read‘
is used as the past participle of the verb, as the sentence is in the passive
254
voice. Here it should be pronounced as /red/ and not as /rid/. These findings
help us to interpret ‗read‘ in this sentence as pun. Therefore, two meanings
are acquired: 1. The violence of beast on beast is understood as natural law.
And 2. The violence of beast on beast is red as natural law. Thus, the
phonemical similarity of ‗read‘ (past tense) with ‗red‘ allows two
interpretations. The second interpretation as ‗red‘ correspondence to blood.
The violence of this type is always bloody.
6.3.3. 6. Irony
It is supposed to be the most important figure of speech in rhetorics. It
produces the effect on the mind of receiver in such fashion that one does not
forget it for a long a time. In verbal irony a speaker says one thing and means
another many times just opposite. Many times falling – rising or rising –
falling tone are used to show different implication. It becomes emphatic. In
irony, the receptor must be conscious of the context and the dissembled
meaning. The victim is not aware of the pricking sense. Elizabeth Black‘s
(2006: 110) reading falls almost on the same line as follows:
―A marked disparity between what is said and the situation is often
indicative of irony. In the spoken language, intonation and even facial
expression may suggest we are confronted with an ironical utterance.
Lexis is sometimes a guide. Another possible hint of irony may be a
departure from the textual norm (what Fowler 1981: 75 calls
localisation). Contradiction of what has gone before may also suggest
irony‖. (23)
Irony is one of the vehicles of wit and its purpose is constructive. Its aim is
not only to produce laughter but to effectively notice human follies of the
speaker or of the victim for example in Browning‘s ‗My Last Duchess‘,
While introducing his last duchess, the duke utters the following lines.
Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
255
Whene‘er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive.
The duke is a not only a good orator but witty person. He has to
communicate the message to the delegation that he is a generous and that he
gave many opportunities to his last duchess to improve her manner.
According to him, her manner was indecent to his family. So, he gave
commands and her smiles stopped together. This backgrounding foregrounds
the message that she has been killed by him. So when he says ‗There she
stands as if alive‘, the message learnt by the receptor is ‗She is standing alive
in the portrait but is dead in reality.‘
6.3.3. 7. Sarcasm
It is personal attack. Though it is a kind of irony, in sarcasm the victim is
conscious of the double intension. Literally, it is a kind of flesh tearing and is
used with the intention of hurting someone. David Diop in his ‗Africa‘
criticizes the government of his own country through the following sarcasm.
This is Africa your Africa
That grows again patiently obstinately
And its fruit gradually acquire
The bitter taste of liberty.
The poem opens with the line ‗Africa my Africa‘ and concludes as seen in
the above lines as ‗This is Africa your Africa‘. The sarcasm not only ends
here but also the poet points out that after the struggle they may have
achieved liberty but the fruit of liberty has acquired bitter taste. In this
256
sarcasm there is anti-climax too. The country grows patiently but only to
acquire the bitter taste. How can one ensure its growth?
6.3.3. 8. Euphemism
It is a kind of expression used to speak favorably to avoid the bitterness of
the situation. There is a contrast between what is stated and what is meant.
To avoid the bitterness of death, the expression: ‗The old priest passed away‘
is used. Lakdasa Wikkramasinha‘s poem ‗Don‘t Talk to Me About Matisse‘
is a record of preindependence of Sri Lanka when on the name of art,
painting and culture, wide violence was made. The poet employs a novel
euphemistic expression for the description of the death.
Don‘t talk to me about Matisse . . .
The European style of 1900, the tradition of the studio
Where the nude woman reclines forever
On a sheet of blood.
Matisse was a great painter of the time but the European style of 1900 was
marked by the violence. The word ‗tradition‘ here denotes in fact the
incivility of the British. Here the poet uses the expression ‗reclines forever‘
to substitute death.
The phrase ‗a sheet of blood‘ reinforces the substitution to death. Moreover,
studio is meant for shooting like photo shooting and suggests gun shooting
too. Thus, the poet suggests the gun shooting in contrast to photo shooting,
which is normally expected in a studio.
6.3.3. 9. Periphrasis
It is a roundabout expression for example in John Milton‘s ‗Invocation‘; the
poet employs a roundabout expression for Jesus Christ as follows.
257
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
6.3.4. Figures of Speech Based on Arrangement
Figures of speech based on arrangements deal with placing of words, phrases
and sentences in a typical manner that invites readers to interpret. In modern
linguistics and thereafter in stylistics it may lead to the study of syntacs for
producing poetic effects. Transferred Epithet or Hypallage is an adjective,
which is transferred from its normal place to another. The usual relations of
words or phrases are interchanged. Climax is a kind of ladder ascending
from whatever is lower to whatever is higher. It is an arrangement of words
or ideas in hierarchy. Anti-climax is an arrangement in which after arise
there is an abrupt descent. The expression used for this purpose is weaker or
less impressive than that is stated earlier. Hyperbole is an overemphasis or
overstatement made for the sake of outburst of emotion or even for humor.
Unlike it, Meiosis is the opposite of hyperbole. In which, the items are
underrated by diminishing the values of it and treating it inferior than what it
really is. Litotes is a form of meiosis in which an idea is conveyed by stating
the opposite of it.
Alliteration is a recurrence of the same sound segment in words that are
consecutively, or sufficiently close, to produce a noticeable effect. If
consonant sound like /b/, /d/ and /k/ are repeated it is called as Consonance
and if vowel sounds like /a:/, /ə/ and / / are repeated it is called as
Assonance. Whenever we are under the effect of the sudden emotion our
language becomes abrupt and elliptical, this becomes Exclamation.
Interrogation or Rhetorical Question is a statement in the syntacs of a
question. An apparent question that yields information rather than asks
information. Chiasmus is a complex or compound sentence in which second
258
clause is inverted and balanced against the earlier clause. Tautology is a
figure of speech in which the idea that has been expressed is needlessly
repeated. Zeugma is a figure of speech in which one word is connected with
two other in different senses. In Syllepsis, the single word governs each of
the two words can make sense with both of them but grammatically as far as
number, gender or case is concerned agrees only with one.
6.3.4.1. Transferred Epithet
It is a figure of speech in which a descriptive word or an adjective is
transferred from the noun to which it naturally belongs to another. In Philip
Larkin‘s ‗Wants‘, the poet employs a term ‗artful tension‘. The adjective
‗artful‘ is normally used in the expression like, ‗artful magician‘, from where
it is transferred to this phrase. Thus, it carries with it its environmental
meaning and conveys the meaning that like magician, ‗tension‘ also lures the
person from his wish to be alone.
Kirpal Singh‘s ‗To a Visitor to Singapore‘ is a poem about his own country
as well as helplessness of the host to sell their girls for earning money for the
survival. Though he wonders on the compromise of the visitors, in fact he
knows that it is their own compromise so that they are bound to lower down
the standards and the principles. It is his own guilty consciousness that
makes him think about visitors‘ compromise. The poet employs the
following transferred epithet in the poem.
i often wonder what comfort you derive
from this amazing compromise
The transferred epithet occurs in the expression ‗this amazing compromise‘,
‗amazing‘ has positive connotation and ‗compromise‘ has negative
connotation. The compromise is amazing only in the sense that it offers
comfort to the visitor but only for a short time.
259
6.3.4.2. Climax
Like a ladder, in this figure of speech there is gradual ascent from less
effective meaning to the most effect meaning. Thus it shows stages of
development in the mind of the poet. In Shelley‘s ―Ode to the West Wind‘
the poet makes his reader to see his upliftment by stages.
Oh! Lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!
Here these three objects namely wave, leaf and cloud come in this order only
because if the height of each object is imagined one finds that a wave can go
to a certain height, higher to that a leaf can be raised and still higher to that
cloud can go. This not only shows the upliftment acquired by raising the
height in physical sense but also in spiritual sense too.
6.3.4.3. Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a kind of overstatement. In John Donne‘s ‗The Sunne Rising‘,
materialistic valuation of love is entirely in hyperbolic manner. The poet
says that since his mistress and their love comprise the world, and the sun‘s
duty is to warm the world by revolving around the earth, the sun can perform
his job simply by warming them and his original purpose will be served. The
exaggeration is perceptible in the following lines of the poem.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy centre is, these walls, they spheare.
6.3.4.4. Meiosis
It is an understatement for example after the death of a rich man it is
generally said ‗He must have said a shilling‘. In Razia Khan‘s poem ‗My
Daughter‘s Boy-friend‘, the poet employs the following term for her
daughter.
The flesh of my flesh is now to be
260
Nothing to me any longer
‗The flesh of my flesh‘ is an understatement as far as its comparison with the
expression ‗my daughter‘ is considered.
6.3.4.5. Litotes
It is particularly an expression of an idea by using the negative of its
opposite. In Browning‘s ‗My Last duchess‘, the duke says to the delegation
‗so, not the first are you to turn and ask thus.‘ Here, ‗not the first‘ means ‗the
second‘.
‗Sea Breeze, Bombay‘ by Adil Jussawala speaks of communities that are
torn and are reformed. Indian subcontinent is witnessing of arrivals of many
troops, invaders and refugees from all directions. The people come and are
amalgamated in this land. This is the spirit of this land. Bombay is a
quintessence of this spirit. Bombay serves as a surrogate city that provides
for the accommodation of the uprooted people. However, it is the greatness
of the city that it does not investigate about the details of the past. The poet
wishes to convey this idea strongly through the employment of litotes. He
uses the expression, ‗uncovers no root‘. The meaning is ‗the city covers the
root.‘ However, the use of negative of opposite allows the poet to hint
politely at the spirit of gentleness on the part of the city, of not asking about
caste, religion, creed or any other unwanted details. Had the poet used the
direct expression, ‗the city covers the root‘, it might have given wrong
implication that the covers the wrong doings of the people.
6.3.4.6. Exclamation
Whenever the speaker is found under emotional effect, he tends to be abrupt.
The use of exclamation mark and the words indicating emotions such as
‗Oh!‘ or ‗O!‘ are the indicators of this figure of speech. In Wole Soyinka‘s
‗To My First White Hairs‘
261
The poet uses an ordinary expression with extraordinary emotive emphasis
as in the expression ‗- My head sir !-‘ This kind of over punctuation is an
attempt on the part of speaker in the poem to treat his head as a subcontinent
of Africa.
6.3.4.7. Interrogation
It is a statement in the form of question. It is more arresting than plain
statement. It is an appeal made for introspection of the readers. Derek
Walcott‘s ‗A Far Cry from Africa‘ ends with two rhetorical questions as
follows.
How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from Africa and live?
The lines describe poet‘s lack of ability to solve the problem. His ancestry
belongs to white and black people. He feels divided to veins. Beyond that, it
hints at the introspection of the poet by questioning to himself. The readers
cannot assume that the poet wants to say ‗I cannot face‘ or ‗I cannot live‘
rather these questions mark at the struggle that is going inside his mind and
give a peep into his mind.
R. Parthasarthy in his ‗Delhi‘, describes his personal life and at the same
time disturbed history of Delhi. The poet laments that the country has lost its
identity due to imbibe the foreign invaders and community. The poet
wonders if Delhi shall bring back the past glory by asking the following
rhetorical question.
Will Indraprastha rise again? The Jamuna
has forever covered its spoors.
Indraprastha is believed to be the ancient capital of India, which was raised
by Pandawa. At that time, it was the center of power and glory. By asking
262
this question, the poet emphatically grounds the idea that it is almost
impossible for India to regain the power and glory in near future. The next
line reads almost like answer. The river Jamuna flows along Delhi. The poet
proves the loss of glory of by referring the floods of the rive Jamuna which
have buried the marks of ancient glory of India.
6.3.4.8. Alliteration
It is a recurrence of consonant sound (consonance) or vowel sound
(assonance) to produce a noticeable effect. In Shelley‘s poem, the expression
‗O wild West Wind‘ with its recurrence of /w/ sound invites the attention of
the reader.
6.3.4.9. Onomatopoeia
In this poetic device sense is suggested through the sound of the words. The
utterance echoes the actual sound of the word. Most of the words expressing
the sounds of animals are onomatopoeic. Shelley in his poem ‗Ode to the
West Wind‘ uses the expression ‗The trumpet of a prophecy‘. The sound of
trumpeting is related with elephant. Here, it not only brings the sound of
elephant to the ear, but also the comparison. In many cultures, elephant
stands for the prosperity of the community. Here the poet advocates the same
prosperity for the human community. Lesley Jeffries and Dan McIntyre
(2010: 42) observed that /s/, /z/ and / / sounds can be used to represent the
sounds of raindrops. They further state as follows:
―Other forms of onomatopoeia also relate to whole categories of
sound more often than to individual phonemes themselves. Thus, as
well as representing the sounds of rain, sibilants can be used to
conjure up wind, sighing, breathlessness etc. Plosives, particularly
the voiceless ones (/p/ /t/ /k/), being short, sharp sounds, can be used
for gunfire and other short sounds such as a knock on the door or a
clap of thunder – or applause‖.(24)
263
Nissim Ezekiel‘s ‗Night of the Scorpion‘ is a poignant portrayal of a rustic
situation. The poem narrates how a poisonous scorpion stings the speaker‘s
mother. It depicts the ignorance and superstitious attitude of the simple but
concerned village folk. It is interesting to note that the poet employs
onomatopoeic words to generate typical Indian rustic situation and to show
the way Indian rustic people express the fear and the Hindu belief.
Line no. 8
The peasants came like swarms of flies
Line no. 9
and buzzed the name of god a hundred times.
Line no.15
They clicked their tongues.
Credulity is a characteristically Indian rustic feature. The simile used in line
no. 8 suggests not only large numbers of villagers crowding around the
victim but also suggests curious and credulous nature of Indian rustics. The
onomatopoeic word ‗buzzed‘ here denotes the chanting effect. The
onomatopoeic word ‗clicked‘ denotes the way Indian rustics express their
sense of regret.
6.3.4.10. Tautology
Tautology is saying again the same thing what has been said already. In
Browning‘s ‗My Last Duchess‘, the Duke says ‗Though his fair daughter‘s
self, as I avowed at starting, is my object.‘ Here, tautology involves in the
expression ‗his fair daughter‘s self‘, even if he would have said ‗his fair
daughter‘, the effect would have been the same. He unnecessarily says,
‗daughter‘s self‘. He says the same kind of thing as he already said it. Yet it
involves the meaning that the duke is interested in her ‗self‘ rather than in
the daughter.
6.3.5. Miscellaneous Figures of Speech
Not any special category can be labeled for many minor miscellaneous
figures of speech. Asyndeton is an omission of connecting conjunctions.
264
Polysyndeton is the opposite of Asyndeton, in that excessive use of
connectives is deliberately made. Prolepsis is an expression in which
something already past is used before it is actually past thus it is used in
anticipation. Hendiadys is a figure of speech in which an idea is expressed
by coordinating two words or phrases with the conjunction ‗and‘. The words
or the phrases are normally dependent on each other. Onomatopoeia is a
poetic device in which the sense is suggested by the sound of the words used.
Malapropism is the misuse of a word through confusion with another word
that sounds similar. Spoonerism is a transposition of initial consonant cluster
in an amusing manner.
6.3.5.1. Asyndeton
It is an omission of conjunctions. Edward Braithwaite‘s ‗Tizzic‘ employs a
fine example of asyndeton as follows.
rain through the roof his havenothing cottage; kele, kalinda-stamp,
the limbo, calypso-season camp,
these he loved best of all;
Here the poet has omitted conjunctions so as to show the number of things
that salve loves. The omission hints at the idea that the slave loves all these
things equally without any preference to any special object.
6.3.5.2. Polysyndeton
In Polysyndeton, connectives are used in excess. It achieves the effect in
which it individualizes every item so that one can read it with full thought
and special consideration to every item. In Shelley‘s ‗Ode to the West
Wind‘, the poet wishes to point out colours of different kinds of leaves so
that readers can see the multifariousness of the leaves.
265
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-stricken multitudes;
One can see the excess use of connective ‗and‘ and commas to the effect that
the reader has to read every word distinctly taking sufficient pauses in order
to look at the colours of the leaves. The colours mentioned anticipate the
disease in the next line.
6.3.5.3. Hendiadys
Hendiadys is a figure of speech in which by co-ordination the two phrases
are joined where one phrase is normally dependent on the other. It is a rare
type. If the poet says ‗We drank a cup and honeydew‘ instead of ‗We drank a
cup of honeydew‘, he achieves hendiadys.
6.3.5.4. Zeugma
In this figure of speech, one word is connected with the two other words but
it fails with one of it for example in John Figueroa‘s ‗On seeing the
Reflection of Notre Dame in the Seine‘; the poet employs the following
lines.
He makes the poem, the cathedral
The image, the tune, the stone
Here, it can be seen that the use of ‗make‘ in relation to different words
enlisted. Correctly it is related with ‗the tune‘. With other words, the verb
‗make‘ needs to be interpreted in different fashion e.g. ‗He builds the
cathedral‘, ‗He composes a poem‘, ‗He produces the image‘ and ‗He forms
the stone‘. However it could be safely assumed that the poet employs only
one verb in relation to these different words because he views these different
activities as a part of the same scheme of his universe.
Jayanta Mahapatra‘s ‗Hunger‘ speaks of a story of a fisherman father who is
obliged to sell his daughter to keep body and soul together. The protagonist,
266
who is torn between two hungers namely desire for food and desire for sex,
is drawn towards the fisherman‘s daughter for satiating his lust. At the end,
the pitiable conditions of the father and the daughter provoke the protagonist
to lose his desire for sex. The poet is able to convey the pitiable conditions
through the employment of zeugma in the following lines of the poem.
The fisherman said: will you have her, carelessly,
trailing his nets and his nerves, as though his words
sanctified the purpose with which he faced himself.
Here, the zeugma is employed in the expression ‗trailing his nets and his
nerves‘. In a standard usage of English, one may trail normally something in
the water. The verb ‗trail‘ is correctly connected with ‗net‘ in other words,
the fisherman can trail net in water but how he cannot trail his nerves. This
strangeness of meaning invites the reader to imagine that the fisherman is
helpless and so careless to say ‗will you have her‘. The syntactic structure of
the poem is too ambiguous. Whether he is careless to trail the nets and the
nerves or is careless to say ‗will you have her‘? This question acquires the
ambiguity. It seems that poet wishes readers to take both meanings.
6.3.5.5. Syllepsis
The single word is in correct grammatical relation with other words and
makes correct sense with each of them for example ‗He lost his hat and
temper‘.
6.3.5.6. Chiasmus
In Chiasmus, is a figure of speech in which the second part is inverted
against the first and there is a perfect grammatical balance between them.
Gopal Honnalgere‘s ‗Grass words‘ employs a fine example of chiasmus as
follows.
267
State gambles with men
Men gamble with the state
The poem speaks of the cold war between manmade world and natural
world. It advocates the supremacy of natural world over manmade world.
The speakers in the poem are creatures or plants. In the above chiasmus, the
poet brings to the notice of readers the duplicity of manmade world.
6.3.5.7. Prolepsis
In prolepsis, an object describing something already past is used before it is
actually past in anticipation for example in Keats‘s ‗Isabella‘, the line occurs
‗So these two brothers rode past Florence‘
6.4. Conclusion
The figure of speech is a purposeful distortion of language. Figures of speech
under the term rhetoric were being studied from the time unknown. Different
scholars claim different categorization of figures of speech. Figures of
speech are inseparable parts of human communication so of poetry because
poetry communicates incommunicable. Figures of speech are embellishment
of poetic language and employment of them results into appeasement on the
part of reader‘s intellectual and aesthetic longing. Figures of speech based on
comparison ennoble the object of comparison and achieve distancing effect
in other words, it makes familiar unfamiliar or vice versa. Figures of speech
based on substitution foregrounds the organic connection between two
objects. Figures of speech based on contrast bring to the forefront the
opposition existed between the two objects. Figures of speech based on
arrangements invite reader to examine the syntactical properties of the
expression.
268
REFERENCES
1. Boulton, Marjorie. The Anatomy of Language. New Delhi: Kalyani
Publishers, 1979.
2. Black, Elizabeth. Pragmatic Stylistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 2006.
3. Shelden, Raman. Peter J. Rabinowitz, ‗Speech act theory and literary
studies‘; LITERARY CRITICISM VOLUME VIII. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1995.
4. Lyons, John. Language and Linguistics. New York: Cambridge University
Press,1981.
5. Hurdford, James R., Brendan Heasley, Michael B. Smith. SEMANTICS a
course book. New Delhi: Raj Press, 2009.
6. Microsoft Encarta Premium, 2008.
7. Microsoft Encarta Premium, 2008.
8. Lynn, Steven. Rhetoric and Composition. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2010.
9. Adamson, Sylvia ed., Gavin Alexander and Katrin Ettenhuber
‗Introduction‘; Renaissance Figure of Speech. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2007.
10. Wilson, Deirdre, Dan Sperber. Meaning and Relevance. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2012.
11. Wales, Katie. A Dictionary of Stylistics. London: Pearson Education,
2001.
12.Singh, Kumar Amar. T.S.Eliot and Indian Philosphy. New Delhi:
Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1990
13. Rao, G. Subha. Indian words in English. London: Oxford University
Press, 1954.
269
14. Choudhary, Satya Dev. Glimpses of Indian Poetics. New Delhi: Sahitya
Academy, 2002.
15. Levinson, Stephen. Pragmatics. New York: Cambridge University Press,
1983.
16. Lyons, John. Language and Linguistics. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1981.
17. Hopper Paul, Elizabeth Traugott. Grammaticalization. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1993.
18. Leech, Geoffrey N. A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. London:
Longman,1977.
19. Eubanks, Philip. Metaphor and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2011.
20. Lakoff, George. Ortony Andrew (ed.). Metaphor and Thought.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
21. Simpson, Paul. Stylistics. London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group,
2011.
22. Simpson, Paul. Stylistics. London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group,
2011.
23. Black, Elizabeth. Pragmatic Stylistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 2006.
24.Jeffries, Lesley, Dan MacIntyre. Stylistics. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2010.
270