VARIETIES OF POETIC LICENSE
This is the poet right to ignore set rules and conventions generally observed by users of the language. The poet deviates from the norm (canon) in order to archive his own end in this presentation o the poem. Through poetic license there are several deviations that can be observed from poems these include the following;
a. Lexical deviation
This is the art of inventing new words for the poem in order to fit the style of the poet. Lexical deviation not a complete variation of lexical rather it only applies the rules of word formation to a greater generality. Quit a number of widely used English words originated in poetry due to the use of lexical deviations, example: - blatant Spencer
Assassination – Shakespeare
Pandemonium – Milton
Usage of lexical deviations
In order to deviate from the norm lexically, the poet waves or ignores the usual descriptions or the rules of word formation. Examples, the English rules of word formation which profits the predication of “force” to a verb to convey the meaning of beforehand as in foresee foretell.
Such a rule may be applied with greater freedom to create words like, foretell or fore appear
In the example above the rule of using the prefix “fore” which limits its usage to just but a number of verbs is over stretched to include other words which do not under normal circumstances we the prefix.
Likewise compounding which is another process of the word formation is used with greater generality in some line or poems. For example in a poem by Hopkins titled the well of the Heathland, he was used the following rhyme “The widow making uncoiling deeps.The use of UN in a prefix on words which do not take a prefix in normal speech. Window making is also used as a on the pattern of music prize winning tub thumping.
However there is strangeness in the usage which such a compound as widow making is not normally or choice by the poet, some words may have to be snorted, in this incidence parts of words are omitted, such as;
The removal of the initial part of a word – Ephesians e.g. ‘its instead of its is
The removal of the medial part of a word – Apocalypse e.g. Nev instead of never
The removal of the final part of a word syncope oft’ instead of often
Removal of words with no importance – elision
b. Dialectical deviation
This is the borrowing of features of socially or regionally defined dialects. It is commonly used story teachers humanists, and poets. For the poet, dialect may serve a number of purposes in its usage it evokes flavors and a sense of belonging to the society which reads the poem. A good example is the poem the socialists by Richard mabala.
It had been afraid to draw close dressed as I was in working clothes, But fired by such moving words of commitments approached each Bandung and asked him if they would spare a few hours to help us dig our new irrigation ditch
c. Grammatical Deviations
This is the deviation from the normal grammatical rules in order to suit the requirement of the poem. A good example of this re–arrangement of syntactic elements in a irregular order is what we call “hyper baton, This is done by placing an adjectives after the noun it qualifies, Likewise jumbled structures of clauses are sometimes used in verses. They are taken for granted. This can be seen in the poem “The diverting History of john Gulpin” written by Cowper.
John Gulpin was a citizen of credit and renown
A train – band captain eke he was a
famous of London town
John Gulpin’s spouse said to her dear
“Though wedded we have been”
These twice ten tedious years yet we
“No holiday have seen”
The sections underlined contain the main clause elements which are S for subject, C for compliment and V for verb which impose as in ordinary speech would certainly take the order S V C
However Cowper gives were three separate salvation of that order CVS CSV SCV
d. Archaism
This is the deviation of the language of the Historical period. A poet is not restricted to the language of his or her own periods; widely applauded poets make use of archaism. James Joyce thought a writer must be familiar with the languages history.
T.S. Eliot expressed a similar idea when he argued that the significance and appreciation of the poet is the appreciation of his relationship to the dead poets and artists. This means that many poets have felt that they share the same language, same communicative media as poets of earlier generations, whatever changes the language may have undergone in the mean time.
Archaism is therefore the survival of the language of the past into the language of the past into the language of the present the archaic by Aristotle and has long persisted through much of the history of English poetry.
Poets like Spencer and Milton played a leading role in the establishment of these rational patterns of wages the traditional has been kept allies in poetry by such words such
Behold meaning see or look
Betimes meaning sometimes
Damsel meaning small
Stetson meaning often
Are’ meaning error
Fain meaning act like
Oft - often
Smith - hit, kill
Unto – to me you
Sounder – there
e. Graphologist/Orthographic Deviation
This is the line by line arrangement of words of the printed poem with irregular. The printed line just like the printed stanza is different in its arrangement when it is compared to stanza or a paragraph in prose.
The line in a stanza is an independent unit which is capable of communication on idea; it is also capable of interacting without the use of standard units of punctuation
Good examples of poets who use graph logical deviations are William Charles Williams and E.E comings.
Orthographical deviation: Is the discarding of capital letters and punctuations were conventional prose cables for the use.
A good example of a poet using orthographical deflation is E.E comings. According to them the used for capital letters spacing and punctuation is an expresses device and not just symbols to the used in writing
Seeker of truth by E.E comings
Seeker of truth
Follow no path
All paths lead where
Truth is here
When graphologist deviation is employed and ambiguity arises from a clash between the units of sentences indicated by line action and by syntax.
By elimination the poem above ends with statements Truth is here but according to syntax “truth is must belong to the clause that begun in the previous line and so here is left on its own as an explanatory conclusion.
The significance of the poem puts or lies on the ambiguity which could not have arisen if the poet had used conventional capitalization and functions.
-Tone: Is the writer’s attitude toward the subject he/she is writing about. It can happy, angry lovely, seared, excited, suspicious etc.
-MOOD: Is the feeling or atmosphere perceived by the reader. OR. Is the feeling the read gets when reading something. It can be scary mood, anger, pity, choppiness, fun
-IMAGERY: Words or phrases that appeal to any series or any combination of senses.
- PERSONIFICATION: Is a figure of speech which endows inanimate objects with human traits OR abilities.
E.g.:- When whole water dapped our cringing brow
In justice strides forth with a sure step
- Point – of View: The poets / author point – of view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker or teller the stone/ or poem
1st person the speaker is a character in the set or poem and tells it from his/her perspective (uses “1)
3nd person limited the speaker is not part of story but tells about the other character but limits information about what one character sees and feels.
3rd Person omniscient. The speaker is not part the of story, but is able to know” and describe what all characters are thiriking
TASK: Add more ten (10) poetic devices you know
Image credit: Poetic Lisence