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Archaism As a Stylistic Marker in Selected Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

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Archaism As a Stylistic Marker in Selected Poems by Edgar Allan Poe Balsam Saleh Abood ARCHAISM AS A STYLISTIC MARKER IN SELECTED POEMS BY EDGAR ALLAN POE ARCHAISM AS A STYLISTIC MARKER IN SELECTED POEMS BY EDGAR ALLAN POE BY BALSAM SALEH ABOOD UNIVERSITY OF AL-QADISIYA ABSTRACT Stylistics deals with the study of linguistic features in a certain chosen text .The present paper is an attempt to apply the stylistic modal of Crystal and Davy (1969) on a number of selected poems by the American poet Edgar Allan Poe. The stylistically significant feature, which is traced here, is archaism. The level of analysis dealt with is morphology and reference is going to be made to other levels when necessary. The statement of frequency used is the continuum of frequency. Archaism is used to refer to any term used in relation to any field of language structure for an old word or phrase or structure no longer in use whether spoken or written. There are different stages for archaisms .The use of these stages is very much clear in Poe's poems. Each of these stages draws an effect on the work that is not available when it is absent. In addition to these archaic words, Poe uses historical references to ancient mythological figures or objects. The poems chose for investigation are: The Raven, To Helen, The Coliseum, To Science, and Lenore. INTRODUCTION MEANINGS OF ARCHAISM Todd and Hancock (1986:446) define Archaism refers to any term in stylistics as the branch of linguistics that relation to any field of ”language structure studies the use of language in certain context for an old word or phrase or structure no and “attempts to account for the regularities longer in use whether spoken or written”. that mark language use by individuals and Archaic words can be found in poetry, groups”. The present paper is an attempt to nursery rhymes, historical novels, biblical apply a stylistic modal on a number of translations, and place names (Crystal, selected poems by the American poet Edgar 2003:31). Archaism is of different types. The Allan Poe. The modal is from Crystal and first type is divided by Galperine (1971:67) Davy (1969), and the stylistically significant into three different stages. The first stage is feature traced is archaism. The level of called obsolescent .It is the beginning of the analysis is vocabulary only and reference is aging process when the word became made to the grammatical level when scarcely used. They are in the stage of necessary. The statement of frequency used gradually passing out of general use .To this is the continuum of frequency. stage words that have morphological forms 69(١-٢)(٧)٢٠٠٨ Balsam Saleh Abood ARCHAISM AS A STYLISTIC MARKER IN SELECTED POEMS BY EDGAR ALLAN POE that belong to earlier stages of the language study- a text- and discussing it in terms of a might be included. These include pronouns number of interrelated levels of description. like (thou) and its form (thee, thy, and These levels can be distinguished as thine); the verbal endings -est, the verb phonetic, phonological, lexical or form: art, will (art thou, thou wilt); the morphological, grammatical, and semantic ending-e(th) instead of -(e)s (he maketh) and levels. The analysis of the levels is a device to the pronoun (ye).Crystal (2003:185)add to help in understanding the aspects of these the vocative construction beginning language used in a text. It is in this way we with (O). refer to a selection of language habits or the occasional linguistic idiosyncrasies, which The second stage is called obsolete: characterize an individual’s uniqueness. these are the words that have already gone According to the modal the analysis completely out of use but are still recognized might involve the discussion of one level or by the English speaking community: e.g. more than one if necessary. Sometimes two methinks= (it seems to me); nay = (no). The levels are involved in the understanding of a third stage is called archaic proper. These certain feature, but ultimately one of them is are words that are no longer recognizable in dominant. For example the morphological modern English. They were used in Old (or lexical) level and the grammatical one English and which have either stopped to be might be traced but the morphological level used in language entirely or have changed in is the pervasive one as it is the case with this their appearance so much that they have study. When a text is analyzed the become unrecognizable, e.g. troth (=faith); a descriptive statement is made in terms of losel (= a worthless, lazy fellow). their stylistic importance .A chosen feature There is no clear-cut distinction between might be discovered to be found in a text group one and group two. In fact they twice but in another text might occur twenty interpenetrate. But the difference is times. Or a feature might be uniquely important when we are after the stylistic available in a variety as opposed to a feature effects served by their use. that is distributed throughout many or all The second type of archaism refers to varieties in different frequencies. historical words or mythological figures .In By adopting an approach of this kind, every society there are certain historical the statement of frequency may be explained events, characters, material objects which in one of the two ways, or both: First, the are no longer in use but they never statistical information. Second, the disappear from the language, e.g.thane, statement of frequency is expressed in more mace, etc. These are called historical words informal terms, by using such quantifiers, or terms. These terms refer to definite stages likely, rarely, commenly, often, and very in the development of society and cannot often. When the result of the chosen text is therefore be dispensed with, though the given, we will be in a position to make an things they refer to have long passed into overall stylistic picture of a text, prior to oblivion. There is a definite characteristic comparing it with others. for these words that they have no synonyms, whereas archaic words have been replaced ARCHAISM IN SELECTED POEMS: by modern synonyms, (Galperine, 1971:68). ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT THE STYLISTIC MODAL OF CRYSTAL There are a number of poems in which we can find archaism. The first one is AND DAVY (1969) The Raven, which is considered as the cause The modal of Crystal and Davy of Poe’s fame. The second one is To Helen, (1969:22) involves taking the object of while the Coliseum is the third. The fourth 70(١-٢)(٧)٢٠٠٨ Balsam Saleh Abood ARCHAISM AS A STYLISTIC MARKER IN SELECTED POEMS BY EDGAR ALLAN POE one is To Science and the last one is Lenore. obsolete word (surcease) which means (to There are other poems in which we can find stop, end). The second use of obsolete words the feature in but they are out of the scope is the ” maiden”, (L 11). In line (34) the of the present work. obsolescent word “thereat” which stands for ”The Raven”: “at that time or at that place”, is used. In The Raven is a narrative poem, “noted for (L.41) the historical reference is used here its musicality, stylized language and with the use of the goddess of wisdom, Pallas supernatural atmosphere.” (Bolden, n.d: of Athens. The same reference to this n.p) It is about a lonely man who has lost his goddess is repeated in (line 104). Line (45) beloved Lenore. This distraught lover is includes three obsolescent words, the visited by the raven, which is known to be as pronouns thy, thou, and the verb art. The a bird of bad omen. The raven landed on the historical reference in addition to the bust of Pallas, above his chamber door. The pronoun ”thy” is available in L (47). man starts to ask the raven questions and Further the obsolete word ”quoth” that the bird surprisingly answers but with only means quote is ending the line. So in one line one word for all the questions, the answer is only we have three different types of ”nevermore”. The man knows that the bird archaism. The historical reference is to the does not speak from wisdom but the word ”Plutonian shore”, which was ruled by nevermore is all his ”stock and store”. It Pluto, a mythological god. This same seems to the man that the raven is taught by reference is used again in line (98). some unhappy master. Finally, after asking a number of questions and receiving the Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou”, same answer nevermore, the man concedes, I said ”art sure no craven realizing that to continue this dialogue Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering would be worthless. "His soul from out that from the Night shore Tell me what thy lordly shadow that the raven throws on the floor, name is on the Nights Plutonian Shore” shall be lifted nevermore" ,(Poedecoder, n. Quoth the Raven Nevermore. d: n. p). (Hollander, 1993:537) In The Raven Poe uses an ancient The obsolete word (methought), which language that seems to be appropriate for means I thought, is available in L (78). his subject, since the poem is about a man Wretch, I cried, thy God hath lent thee-by the spending most of his time with books of angels he hath sent thee ”forgotten lore“. The sort of language used Respite and respite nepenthe from the is a sophisticated abstract language, (Hugel, memories of Lenore. 2004:19) .In order to understand it fully one (Hollander, 1993:538) must go back to certain historical figures.
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