Poetic syntax: features, examples. Anaphora, epiphora

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Poetry is an incredible genre of literature that relies on rhyme, that is, all the lines in a poetic work rhyme with each other. However, the poems and various similar works belonging to this genre would not be so impressive if it were not for the poetic syntax. What it is? This is a system of special means of constructing speech, which are responsible for improving its expressiveness. Simply put, poetic syntax is the totality of these poetic devices, which are most often called figures. It is these figures that will be discussed in this article - you will learn about the different means of expression that can often be found in poetic works.

Repeat

Poetic syntax is very diverse, it includes dozens of means of expression that can be used in certain situations. However, this article will only talk about the most important and common figures of poetic speech. And the first thing without which it is impossible to imagine poetic syntax is repetition. There are a large number of different repetitions, each of which has its own characteristics. You can find epanalipsis in poetry,anadiplosis and much more, but this article will talk about the two most common forms - anaphora and epiphora

Anaphora

Features of poetic syntax involve the use of various means of expression in combination with others, but most often poets use repetition. And the most popular among them is anaphora. What it is? Anaphora is the repetition of consonances or identical words at the beginning of each of the lines of a poem or part of it.

No matter how the hand of fate oppresses, No matter how tormenting people are by deceit…”

This is one of the ways of semantic and aesthetic organization of speech, which can be used to give one or another emphasis to what was said. However, the figures of poetic speech can be varied, and even repetitions, as you have already learned, can differ from each other.

Epiphora

What is an epiphora? This is also a repetition, but it differs from the anaphora. The difference is that in this case, the words are repeated at the end of the lines of the poem, and not at the beginning.

“To the steppes and roads

Not finished count;

To stones and rapids

Account not found.

As in the case of the previous figure, the epiphora is an expressive means and can give the poem a special expression. Now you know what an epiphora is, but the means of expression in poetry do not end there. As mentioned earlier, the syntax of poems is very extensive and gives limitless possibilities.

Polysyndeton

Poetic language is very harmonious just because of the fact that poets use different means of poetic syntax. Among them, polysyndeton is often found, which is also called polyunion. This is an expressive means that, due to redundancy, gives the poem a special tone. Often, polysyndeton is used together with anaphora, that is, repeated conjunctions begin from the beginning of the line.

Asyndeton

The poetic syntax of a poem is a combination of various poetic figures, you have already learned about this earlier. However, you still do not know even a small fraction of the means that are used for poetic expression. You have already read about multi-union - it's time to learn about non-union, that is, asyndeton. In this case, the lines of the poem turn out to be without unions at all, even in those cases where, logically, they should be present. Most often, this tool is used in long rows of homogeneous members, which are eventually listed separated by commas to create a certain atmosphere.

Parallelism

This expression is very interesting because it allows the author to beautifully and effectively compare any two concepts. Strictly speaking, the essence of this technique lies in the open and detailed comparison of two different concepts, but not just like that, but in the same or similar syntactic constructions. For example:

The day is like grass spreading.

Night – I wash my face with tears.”

Anzhanbeman

Enjambement is a rather complex expressive tool that is not so easy to use correctly and beautifully. In simple words, this is a transfer, but far from the most ordinary. In this case, part of the sentence is transferred from one line to another, however, in such a way that the semantic and syntactic part of the previous one is on the other line. To better understand what is meant, it is easier to look at an example:

Into the ground, laughing that first

I got up, crowned in the dawn.”

As you can see, the sentence "Into the ground, laughing that I got up first" is one separate part, and "in the dawn of the crown" is another. However, the word “stood” is carried over to the second line, thus it turns out that the rhythm is observed.

Invert

Inversion in poems is very common - it gives them a poetic flavor, and also ensures the creation of rhyme and rhythm. The essence of this technique is to change the order of words to atypical. For example, you can take the sentence "A lonely sail turns white in the blue mist of the sea." Is this a poem? No. Is it a well-formed sentence with the correct word order? Absolutely. But what happens if you use inversion?

The lonely sail turns white

In the mist of the blue sea.”

As you can see, the sentence was not quite correct - its meaning is clear, but the word order does not correspond to the norm. But at the same time, the sentence has become much more expressive, and also now fits into the general rhythm andrhyming poem.

Antithesis

Another technique that is used very often is the antithesis. Its essence lies in the opposition of images and concepts used in the poem. This technique makes the poem dramatic.

Gradation

This technique is a syntactic construction in which there is a certain set of words built in a specific order. This can be either in descending order or in ascending order of the importance and importance of these words. Thus, each subsequent word either strengthens the importance of the previous one, or weakens it.

Rhetorical question and rhetorical appeal

Rhetoric in poetry is used very often, and in many cases it is addressed to the reader, but often it is also used to address specific characters. What is the essence of this phenomenon? A rhetorical question is a question that does not require an answer. It is used to get attention, not for someone to come up with an answer and report it. Approximately the same situation with rhetorical appeal. It would seem that the appeal is used in order for the one to whom they are addressing to respond. However, rhetorical appeal, again, is used only as a means of attracting attention.