StylisticAnalysisofPoetryBy程雨桐2011300340091賈怡珩2011300340095IntroductionPoetryisacomprehensiveterm,whichcanbetakentocoveranykindofmetricalcomposition.However,itisusuallyemployedwithreservations.Poetryisasuperiorformofcreationandthereforemoreserious.TheCloud----by

PercyBysshe ShelleyIbringfreshshowersforthethirstingflowers,Fromtheseasandthestreams;IbearlightshadefortheleaveswhenlaidIntheirnoondaydreams.FrommywingsareshakenthedewsthatwakenThesweetbudseveryone,

Whenrockedtorestontheirmother’sbreast,Asshedancesaboutthesun.Iwieldtheflailofthelashinghail,Andwhitenthegreenplainsunder,AndthenagainIdissolveitinrain,AndlaughasIpassinthunder.Ⅰ.AtthePhonologicalLevelMeterInthispartofthepoem,Shelleymainlyusediambictetrameter(withdactylicviriations),i.e.,fourfeetineachline.Forinstance,in“Frommy｀wingsare｀shakenthe｀dewsthat｀waken”therearefourstressedsyllables.Butnottomakeittedious,Shelleyalsoadoptedotherpatterns,forexample,iambicpentameter,iambicdimeteranddactylicdimeter.RhymeIntermsofrhyme,ShelleychosemainlytwokindsofrhymeinTheCloud,single/masculinerhymeanddouble/femininerhyme.IbringfreshshowersforthethirstingflowersFromtheseasandthestreamsIbearlightshadefortheleaveswhenlaidIntheirnoondaydreamsFrommywingsareshakenthedewsthatwaken

ThesweetbudseveryoneWhenrockedtorest

ontheirmother’sbreastAsshedancesaboutthesunIwieldtheflailofthelashinghailAndwhitenthegreenplainsunderAndthenagainIdissolveitinrainAndlaughasIpassinthunderPolysyndetonPolysyndeton

istheuseofseveral

conjunctions

inclosesuccession,especiallywheresomemightbeomitted(asin"heranandjumpedandlaughedforjoy").

Shelleyusedpolysyndetoninthispoemtoincreasetherhythm.Andwhitenthegreenplainsunder,AndthenagainIdissolveitinrain,AndlaughasIpassinthunder.Ⅱ.AttheLexicalLevelTheCloudwasnotlikemanyotherRomanticpoems,whichwerecomposedofvariousdelicatewords.Onthecontrary,itconsistedofmostlyplainwords.Therewereveryfewdelicatewords,namely,“wield”(handleandbrandish)and“whiten”(coverwithsnowandice).MostlyusedwordsTotalWordsPlainWordsDelicateWords84822I5the10and4Ⅲ.AttheSyntacticLevelSimpleSentencesSinceTheCloudwasapoem,itwasimpossibleforthepoettowritemajorsentencesineveryline,thusminorsentencescouldbeseeninmanylines.Furthermore,usuallysimplesentencesareadoptedinpoetry.ButShelleywroteTheCloudwithsomecomplexsentences,suchas“FrommywingsareshakenthedewsthatwakenThesweetbudseveryone,”P(pán)hrasesApartfromchoosingsimplesentences,Shelleyalsomadesomephrasesintolinesofthepoem.Bythisway,hecouldmakeitshortandincreasetherhythmforreadingit.Eg.”Fromtheseasandthestreams”

“Intheirnoondaydreams”

Ⅳ.AttheSemanticLevelFiguresofspeechThemostimpressivepartofTheCloudwasthefiguresofspeechusedinit:personification,metaphorandparallelism.1.Thecloudisapersonificationandametaphorfortheperpetualcycleoftransformationandchangeinnature.Alllifeandmatterareinterconnectedandundergounendingchangeandmetamorphosis.2.“Ibringfreshshowersforthethirstingflowers”“Intheirnoondaydreams” “Frommywingsareshakenthedewsthatwaken” “Whenrockedtorestontheir

mother’sbreast,Asshedancesaboutthesun.”3.Ibringfreshshowersforthethirsting flowers,Fromtheseasandthestreams;

Ibearlightshadefortheleaveswhenlaid Intheirnoondaydreams.ContrastInadditon,Shelleyhadputseveralcontrastsinthispoemaswell,inordertoachievetheeffectofshowingavividpictureoftheimagery.Eg.Andwhitenthegreenplainsunder,Using“whiten”insteadof“throwhailandsnowon”tocontrastwiththe“green”coloroftheplains.IWanderedLonelyasaCloud

ByWilliamWordsworth

Iwanderedlonelyasacloud

Thatfloatsonhigho’ervalesandhills,WhenallatonceIsawacrowd,

Ahost,ofgoldendaffodils;

Besidethelake,beneaththetrees,

Flutteringanddancinginthebreeze.Continuousasthestarsthatshine

Andtwinkleonthemilkyway,

Theystretchedinnever-endingline

Alongthemarginofabay:

TenthousandsawIataglance,

Tossingtheirheadsinsprightlydance.

Thewavesbesidethemdanced;butthey

Outdidthesparklingwavesinglee;

Apoetcouldnotbutbegay

Insuchajocundcompany;

Igaze--andgazed--butlittlethought

Whatwealththeshowtomehadbrought:Foroft,whenonmycouchIlie

Invacantorinpensivemood,

Theyflashuponthatinwardeye

Whichistheblissofsolitude;

Andthenmyheartwithpleasurefills,

Anddanceswiththedaffodils.

Background

WilliamWordsworth

(1770—1850)istheleadingfigureoftheEnglishRomanticMovementinpoetry.HewasknownasPoetLaureate(桂冠詩(shī)人)andLakePoets(湖畔派詩(shī)人).Thepoem“Iwanderedlonelyasacloud”recapturesamomentonApril15,1802,whenWordsworthandhissister,Dorothy,werewalkingnearalakeatGrasmere,

CumbriaCounty,England,andcameuponashorelinedwithdaffodils.1.AtthePhonologicalLevel

1.1MeterThispoemiswrittenbasicallyiniambictetrameter.Forexample,thefirstfourlinesofthefirststanzafollowthispattern.I?wandered?lonely?asa?cloud

That?floatson?higho’er?valesand?hills,When?allat?onceI?sawa?crowd,

A?host,of?golden?daffodils;However,theauthormakessomeadjustmentsincertainplacesinordertoavoiddullness.Forinstance,inthelastlineofthesecondstanza(“Tossingtheirheadsinsprightlydance”),here,thefirstfootturnstobetrochaic.Andthisvariationreinforcesthemovementexpressedbytheverb“toss”,whichdescribesvividlythescenethatthedaffodilsraisetheirheadsgailyinthebreeze,thusmakingthewholesentencemoreexpressive.1.2RhymeRhymeistherepetitionofidenticalorcloselysimilarendsoundsinlinesofverse.Inthispoemineachstanza,therearethreerhymingcouplets:thefirstlineandthethirdline,thesecondlineandthefourthline,andthelasttwolines,thusmakingthepoemgoessmoothly,harmoniouslyandrhythmically.Iwanderedlonelyasacloud

Thatfloatsonhigho’ervalesandhills,WhenallatonceIsawacrowd,

Ahost,ofgoldendaffodils;

Besidethelake,beneaththetrees,

Flutteringanddancinginthebreeze.Continuousasthestarsthatshine

Andtwinkleonthemilkyway,

Theystretchedinnever-endingline

Alongthemarginofabay:

TenthousandsawIataglance,

Tossingtheirheadsinsprightlydance.

Thewavesbesidethemdanced;butthey

Outdidthesparklingwavesinglee;

Apoetcouldnotbutbegay

Insuchajocundcompany;

Igaze--andgazed--butlittlethought

Whatwealththeshowtomehadbrought:

Foroft,whenonmycouchIlie

Invacantorinpensivemood,

Theyflashuponthatinwardeye

Whichistheblissofsolitude;

Andthenmyheartwithpleasure

fills,

Anddanceswiththedaffodils.1.3AlliterationAlliterationisacommonlyuseddeviceinpoeticwriting,anditcanmakethepoemmoreexpressiveandmusical.Inthispoem,itisusedinseveralplaces.Forinstance,inthefourthlineofstanzaone,“beside”and“beneath”formalliteration.Itmakesthewholelinemorecompactbyrepeatingthesound.Additionally,“dances”and“daffodils”inthelastlineofthispoemalsoformalliteration.AtthelexicallevelLexically,wordsareverycarefullychosenbythepoets,andtheyareelegant,poetic,archaic(古體的)andrepetitive.Poetsoftenchooseelegant,exact,symbolicandemotion-loadingwordstoexpressorsuggestingtheirfeelings.Inthispoem,thepoetusedavarietyofpoeticandarchaicwords.Whenhereferredto“happiness”,heused“glee”,“gay”,“jocund”and“bliss”.Besides,healsousedwordslike“pensive”,“solitude”,etc.toexpresshisfeelings.AttheGraphologicalLevelPunctuation

Thepunctuationmarksofthispoemalsocontributetothesuccessofthepoem.Inthefifthlineofthethirdstanza“Igazed–andgazed–butlittlethought”,twodashesinthislinenaturallyslowdownthetempo.Facingthesebeautifuldaffodils,thepoetisintoxicatedandcannothelplingeringhiseyesonthem,andsimultaneously,heseemstobelostinthought,ponderingoverthetruemeaningofthesedaffodilstohimself.Thesetwoactions,gazeandponder,bothcontinuousandtime-consuming,sothetempohereshouldbeslow.Andthedasheshelptoachievethiseffect.AttheSemanticLevelFiguresofSpeechSemantically,wecanfindthefrequentuseofvariousfigureso