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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

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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

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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:

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―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, self-

contained, 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.

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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

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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 well-

known 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

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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:

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―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

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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 (1st 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

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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.

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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)

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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

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‗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:

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―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, 12th

c. A.D.),

Alamkara-sarvasva (Ruyyaka, 12th

c.A.D.), Alamkara-sekhara

(Kesavamisra, 16th

c.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.

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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

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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

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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

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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:

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―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

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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)

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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

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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

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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

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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,‘

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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‘.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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‘.

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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 blood-

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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

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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

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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 that Tennyson‘s ‗Ulysses‘

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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,

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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‘

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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

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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)

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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.

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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 have-

nothing 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.

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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,

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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.

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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.

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