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2024
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https://submissions.qlantic.com/index.php/qjssh/article/download/332/268
https://submissions.qlantic.com/index.php/qjssh/article/view/332
Stylistics Death Life Imagery Morphological Graphological Phonological Semantic Lexical
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Original Research Article
Open Access | |
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| A Guide to Stylistic Analysis: A Case Study of Daud Kamal’s “An Ode to Death” | |
Muhammad Aftab 1 Muhammad Shabir 2 Bushra 3 Dilshad Khan 4 Haroon Khan 5 | ||
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Abstract: This study was aimed at finding the stylistics features used in the poem An Ode to Death. The researcher has explored the poem from five levels of stylistics namely phonological, graphological, semantic, morphological, and lexical. The researcher has highlighted the theme of death in Duad Kamal’s “An Ode to Death”. The poet has used different symbolic expressions and other figurative devices to prove his point of death’s inevitability and life’s fragility. The poet has also used strong imagery that creates clear visual scenery in the reader’s. The findings also show that the poet has used language in a finest way. The use of language in “Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal is so simple and ordinary that even a normal reader can comprehend the poem in a better way. The poet has not used any bombastic vocabulary for embellishment or style. The form of the poem is very simple and the theme of death is very clear from words like “pine tree”, “match-stick”, and “ashtray”. Readers can get the idea of decline and decay, and most importantly the idea of death from the aforementioned words . | ||
Key Words: Stylistics, Death, Life, Imagery, Morphological, Graphological, Phonological, Semantic, Lexical | ||
Introduction and Review of Literature
In writing or speech, style means a particular manner of expression, especially the one regarded as classic. In the course of presenting a work of literature, style entails the particular manner of creation, doing or presentation. It is the distinctive manner in which something happens. When it comes to a piece of writing, it is a writer’s own unique way of writing from which they could be easily recognized. Every writer has his own unique kind of style. Style not only changes from one author to another, but also from one piece of writing to another. According to Mukhtar (2017), “Style is a primary aspect of any piece of literary piece of writing.” It is due to the distinctive and unique style of a writer that a same kind of idea could be presented by different writers in new ways or manners.
“An Ode to death” — the famous poem produced by Daud Kamal, a Pakistani poet globally known for his use of imagery and symbolism in his poetical work. The main concern of the poet in the poem “An Ode to Death” is the universal theme of death. The poet says that death is more than certain hunting everybody and having no discrimination between rich and poor, young and old, strong and weak. The poet has used different situations and imagery in the poem to convey his idea of death as an unavoidable phenomenon. The poem is full of imagery and symbolism. The poem has not been analyzed stylistically by any researcher. There are a lot of figurative and Stylistic devices used in the poem which could be explored through Stylistic Analysis. Daud Kamal in this poem through the use of different figurative devices wants to explore the idea of death being a universal phenomenon which can come for anybody at any time.
The term “style” led to the term “Stylistics”. Stylistics is the study of different styles of different writers. Style, according to Wales (2014, p.397), is “the perceived distinctive manner of expression in writing or speaking. Style of a poet or an author is judged or recognized by the choice of words or diction he uses in his writing, the choice of sentence structure the poet employs, the tone, the grammar, the figurative devices he or she uses in his writing. It is due to the aforementioned elements a poet has a different style from the others.
Previous studies on this subject have either discussed its themes or it has done the semantic analysis of the poem under study. No researcher has done the Stylistic analysis of the poem “An Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal. Stylistics, as Widdowson (2014, p.3) says, is the study of literary discourse from a linguistics orientation. He also adds, “Stylistics is the link between literary criticism and linguistics.” Some of the similar studies are done on different topics that could be taken into consideration by the researcher so that the researcher could take some help and ideas from it for the better understanding of the poem.
Leech (2014) claims that Stylistics abridges Linguistics and Literature. According to them, “Stylistics is a linguistic approach to the study of the literary texts. It thus embodies one essential part of the general course- philosophy; that of combining language and literary study.
Ali et al. (2016) in their thesis on Stylistics Analysis of the Poem “Hope is The Thing with Feathers” takes back the definition of stylistics to Latin. According to them, “‘Stylistics’ is a word which is derived from ‘style’. And ‘style’ is the outcome of the Latin word “Elocutio” which means style.” It means that Stylistics is the study of one’s peculiar way of writing. As said by Leech (2014), “Style is a way in which something is spoken, written or performed.” The findings of Ali et al. (2016) revealed that they analyzed the poem from four different levels: graphological level, phonological level, grammatical level, and lexical level. The evaluation of the poem on graphological level revealed the different use of punctuation marks in the poem. It was also found out that how many stanzas are there in the poem and which stanza is longer than the others. The study revealed some unusual usage of capitalization in the center of the poem. On lexical level, the researchers revealed and recognized different parts of speech in the poem. On grammatical level, the researchers highlighted the unusual usage of dash (-) by the poetess. On phonological level, the researchers reported the rhyming scheme of the poem and the occurrence of the alliteration in some words.
Pervez (2018) in his thesis A Semantic Analysis of Daud Kamal’s “An Ode to Death” has explored different hidden meanings in the poem by applying Leech (2014) seven types of meaning as his theoretical framework. The findings of the study of the poem from Semantics point of view by Pervez (2018) revealed that Daud Kamal’s “An Ode to Death” is unique in its nature. The theme of death has been revealed through different symbols and imagery, which shows that Duad Kamal has used simple narrative language for his deep philosophical message about the ultimate reality of death. The study also showed that the poem reflects people’s beliefs about death and life.
Hashmi et al. (2019) conducted the same kind of study on the poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. These researchers in their thesis on Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”explored the poem from different levels of stylistics and, from their findings of the study it is concluded that Frost’s use of certain words had a special effect on readers’ mind. According to Hashmi et al. (2019, p 373), “The repetition pf certain words and choice of mental process verbs like think, see, know, and watch leave a significant effect on the mind of readers.” These researchers analyzed the poem by studying every single word of the poem individually.
Khan et al. (2014) conducted their research on William Blake’s poem “Night.” These researchers did a stylistic analysis of the poem. The explored the poem from different level of stylistics. The analyzed the poem from four levels of stylistics which are: graphological, syntactical, semantic, and phonological. The findings of the study revealed that the poet has use different words in the poem which conveys his idea or his main concern of the poem, which is the destruction of nature.
Khan et al. (2023) in their research paper on one of John Keats’ poems “Ode to a Nightingale” has analyzed the poem stylistically on different levels of stylistics. The researcher has investigated the structure and style of John Keats’ poetry and his theme and his treatment of nature and beauty. The researcher examined the poem at graphological level where he explores the poem is rich in imaginary, capitalization and three stanzas. The researcher also explored the punctuation marks used in the poem e.g. full stop, comma, colon, semi colon, hyphen and sign of question mark. The researcher examined the phonological level of the poem where he investigated the rhyme scheme of each stanza. Each stanza consists of eleven lines and each line is metered in iambic pentameter. Further, the researcher has also explored the sound devices used in the poem e.g. Alliteration. The researcher also investigated the poetic devices used in the poem e.g. antithesis, metaphor, simile, symbol, personification. Other poetic devices are explored by the researcher like visual imagery, audial imagery. These poetic devices helped in vivid description of theme and structure of theme. The research also pointed out the medieval diction in the poem. According to the researcher, the tone of the poem is romantic and there is hope and positivity in the poem. The poem is rich in sensuous imagery.
Statement of the Research Problem
The poem under study has been discussed from other angles like the semantic analysis of the poem under study is done by Pervez (2018), but no one has explained the poem stylistically. This gap deserves attention so that readers could have a better understanding of the poem.
Research Objectives
The objectives of the study are as follow:
To show the importance of Stylistics for analyzing a poem.
To explore different techniques of figurative language used by the poet for a stronger effect on the reader.
To analyze the poem from Stylistics point of view so that readers could understand it in a better way.
Research Questions
The following questions will be answered by the researcher in this term paper:
Why is it necessary for a poem to be analyzed stylistically?
What is the reason for which the poets use figurative language and indirect symbols in a poem?
How can Stylistics help readers understand a poem in a better way?
Significance of the Study
This term paper will help readers to know about the Stylistics techniques applied in the poem, and it will help readers understand this poem in a better way. This term paper will bring into light the Pakistani poet to the readers around the world who study English Literature. Five levels of Stylistics will be dealt with and explored thoroughly. The exploration of these levels will help other new researchers to know how to analyze a poem stylistically on different levels. The exploration at phonological level will help other researchers to know how to find out the sound devices in a poem. The exploration at semantic level will help other researchers and readers to know how to find out the theme of a poem through usage of different figures of speech. The readers will also be able to find out how a writer keeps the theme of a poem in certain words. The exploration morphological level will help other researchers to know about the words structure and difference prefixes and suffixes that are used in a poem. The readers will also be able to know If the writer has borrowed certain words from other languages or added affixes from other languages. The exploration at graphological level will help the general audience to know the peculiar aspects of a unique punctuation style of a writer.
Research Methodology
Keeping in view the objectives and nature of the study, qualitative method was used for data collection and analysis. The source of data collection was the text of the poem “An Ode to Death by Daud Kamal”. For the analysis of data, the tool of stylistic analysis was used evaluating the poem from 04 different angles namely phonological, morphological, lexical, graphological, and semantic. Every feature of the poem was discussed and analyzed stylistically. The researcher will follow the theoretical framework of M.A.K Halliday’s Systematic Functional Linguistics. The researcher will also follow the Leech and Short’s (1981) framework with special reference to their four levels of language description, such as phonology, syntax, semantics, and graphology. The researcher will study the poem from each level of stylistics by looking at the words choice employed by the poet, by finding out different phonological devices like alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, by discussing different grammatical features like use of different punctuation marks for certain purposes, and by explaining the rhyming scheme of the poem, the type of poem, and meter and stanza of the poem.
Analysis and Discussion
Following are the different levels of Stylistics used for the analysis of the poem:
Phonological Level
Phonology, in linguistics, is the study of the sound system of a particular language or the study of sound patterns in a given language. It deals with how the sound system of a given language is arranged. It encompasses the rules of pronunciation in a given language, the rhythm, rhyming scheme, alliteration, assonance, consonance, repetitions, onomatopoeia, etc. The analysis of the poem on this level is given below:
Rhyme Scheme
The poem “An Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal is a free verse poem written in a very simple form. Therefore, the poem under study has no certain rhyme scheme. The poem is a lyric in style. The poem has 28 lines with do special division of stanzas. But if we look closely at all the lines of the poem, we can divide it according to the idea or message or the theme employed in the lines that are different from the idea or message or the theme employed in the rest of the lines of the poem. Thus, the poem has 6 stanzas. All the six stanzas discuss different ideas with one main idea in common that is of death that is common throughout the poem. The first four stanzas have five lines each and the last two stanzas have four lines each. There is no rhyme scheme in the poem.
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound at the very beginning or the start of the words. Alliteration in the poem “An Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal is used in the following lines:
”Your ode to death is in the lifting of a single eyebrow.”
“But the clocks go on ticking as before”
“There lives a diamond dream”
“The pine tree blasted by last year’s Thunderbolt”
“And the burn out match stick in my ashtray”
“I have sat by your bedside and felt”
“Between the eye and the tear”
“There is the archipelago of naked rocks”
“Only sleep and silence there”
“And clutched at the harlots of memory”
“I have seen the “stars plummet to their dark addresses.”
“I have felt your absence around my neck”
“But let bygones be bygones”
“Who was the deceiver and who was the deceived”
The poet has used Alliteration for the musical effect. Words like “bygones be bygones” And “sleep and silence” show the poet’s ability as a musical poet. When the readers read the poem aloud, they would feel musicality in the poem.
Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sounds in a series of words or phrases. It creates a musical effect in the poem. Assonance is used in the following lines in the poem:
“Your ode to death is in the lifting of a single eyebrow.”
“But the clocksgo onticking as before”
“And in every particle of carbon dust”
“How many galaxies yet to be explored”
“The pine tree blasted by last year’s Thunderbolt”
“And the burn out match stick in my ashtray”
“Look so terribly alike”
“I have sat by your bedside and felt”
“Two streams mingle in a forgotten river”
“Between the eye and the tear”
“There is the archipelago of naked rocks”
“And clutched atthe harlots of memory”
“I have seen the “stars plummet to their dark addresses”
“I have felt your absence around my neck”
“But let bygones be bygones”
“Who was the deceiver and who was the deceived”
“Was I on a floating Island”
Consonance
Consonance is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in a same line in poetry. It also creates musicality in a poem. Consonance in the poem has been used in the following lines:
“Your ode to death is in the lifting of a single eyebrow.”
“But the clocks go on ticking as before”
“And in every particle of carbon dust”
“There lives a diamond dream”
“How many galaxies yet to be explored”
“How many seeds in the pomegranate of time”
“The pine tree blastedby last year’s Thunderbolt”
“And the burn out match stick in my ashtray”
“Look so terribly alike”
“I have satby your bedside and felt”
“Your sinking pulse. Are the hair and bones”
“Really indestructible and how long”
“Does it take for the eyes”
“Two streams mingle in a forgotten river”
“Between the eye and the tear”
“There is the archipelago of naked rocks”
“Only sleep and silence there”
“No anchorage for grief”
“I, too, have wandered in a forest of symbols”
“And clutched at the harlots of memory”
“I have seen the “stars plummet to their dark addresses”
“I have felt your absence around my neck”
“But let bygones be bygones”
“Who was the deceiver and who the deceived”
“Was I on a floating Island”
“And were you on the shore”
Repetitions
In the following lines some words have been repeated:
“How many galaxies yet to be explored –“
“How many seeds in the pomegranate of time?”
“I have sat by your bedside and felt”
“Your sinking pulse.”
“I, too, have wandered in a forest of symbols”
“I have seen the “stars plummet to their dark address”
“I have felt your absence around my neck”
The repetition of words such as “your” and “I” shows that there are two characters in the poem. The narrative technique used in the poem is the first person. By using the first person pronoun “I” a few times in some lines, it is concluded that the speaker of the poem is the author himself. The repetition of the word “your” in a few lines shows that there is a second character in the poem to whom the poet is speaking. The repetition of the word “your” also shows that it has a significant role to play in the poem. By using this word, the poet wants the readers to pay a special attention to these words because they hold a grave importance in the poem. There is another use of the repetitive word like “How many” in the poem. It shows the poet’s uncertainty about human’s wishes and dreams. It reveals the poet’s stress on the limitless wishes of human beings.
Onomatopoeia
It is a literary device which is used by the poets in poetry to allow their readers to visualize the scene. Daud Kamal has used this device in his poem “An Ode to Death”. Onomatopoeia means using words that imitate the sound they denote. The poet has used Onomatopoeia in the following line:
“But the clocks go on ticking as before”. Ticking is the actual sound of the clock’s needles.
Graphological level
Crystal (1994) in their study concluded that graphology deals with the detailed study of the writing system of a language. In simple words, it is the study of the structure or, to make it more formal, the systematic formation of the language. It deals with the punctuation marks, unusual use of capitalization, anything strange in a poem, or writing style of the poem. The analysis of the poem on this level is given below:
Duad Kamal’s poem “An Ode to Death” consists of six stanzas. The first four stanzas of the poem have five lines each. The last two stanzas of the poem have four lines each. The whole poem has 28 lines with no rhyme scheme. It is written in free verse. The poem has a very unique and unusual kind of a beginning. The poem starts with the quotation marks of two other poets. The use of the punctuation marks is also unusual. The poem does not have the required amount of dots to finish a line or an idea, rather the next line is started with a capital word without the last line finishing with a dot. Every starting word of the line has a capital letter. Some of the punctuation marks that are used in the poem are the following:
Full Stop ( . )
Full stop is used at the end of a sentence or a line to finish an idea. In the poem “Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal, full stop has been used only six times. It is very unusual that a poem of 28 lines has only six full stops. The reason to explore these punctuation marks is to find out if the poet takes a lot of pauses during the whole poem or his poem flows continuously like a river. The researcher concluded that the poem of twenty eight lines has only six full stops. It shows the poem’s smoothness and its continuous flow. The lesser amount of periods give the poem a touch of smoothness.
Comma ( , )
Commas are used to give pause or to introduce new things, or give further information. In the poem under study, the poet has used commas only four times. The first two commas are used in the following line:
“Death is more than certain, says e.e Cummings,”
The first two commas are used here to separate the dependent clause from the independent clause. If there was a period instead of the first comma then the said quote would have to be acknowledged in brackets, just like the first line of the poem. It would thus become like this:
Death is more than certain. (e.e. Cummings)
The second comma is used to show the continuous flow in the thought. The next line starts with the conjunction ‘but' to show a connection between the former clause with the later clause. If there was a period instead of the second comma, then there would have been no continuation of the carried thought.
The third and the fourth commas are used in the following line:
“I, too, have wandered in a forest of symbols”
The third and the fourth commas separate the adverb “too" from the rest of the clause.
Sign of Interrogation ( ? )
Sign of interrogation is used to ask questions. It is used at the end of a sentence. Daud Kamal in his poem “An Ode to Death” has used the sign of interrogation only four times. Eight times the poet has shown uncertainty about certain things but he has used the question mark only four times:
“How many seeds in the pomegranate of time?”
“How long does it take for the eyes to dissolve in the grave?”
“And were you on the shore?”
“Which one of us moved away?”
The poet could have also said these lines in a statement instead of asking it in a question form, but then what would be left for the readers to think upon. The poet seems that he wants the readers to draw conclusion from these lines and to answer these questions for themselves.
Dash ( - )
A dash is used to hint a short pause or break in thought. It is also used to add more information to a sentence. Daud kamal has used dash only two times in the poem. The dash has been used two times for a brief break in the poet’s thought. The poet has used the two dashes in the following lines:
“How many galaxies yet to be explored-Only sleep and silence there-”
Both the dashes are used to say two things with a short pause. A comma could have also been used here but a comma would have separated the two thoughts. But the poet wants a connection between the two clauses but with a short break.
Apostrophe
An Apostrophe is used to show possession of certain things. It is also used to indicate that some letters have been left out or the exclusion of letters in contractions. The poet has used only one apostrophe in the whole poem for the need of possession:
“The pine tree blasted by last year’s Thunderbolt”
The Apostrophe in the aforementioned line shows a possession of something. That something is last year. It could be also said in the following way:
The pine tree blasted by the Thunderbolt of the last year
But it would take away the quality of smoothness and meter which are the main qualities of poetry.
Morphological Level
Morphology, in linguistics, is the study of the smallest meaningful units of a language. It deals with all the rules that are used for the word formations. It studies how suffixes and prefixes are added to the root words to form new words. On morphological level, all the internal structure of words used in the poem will be explored. The analysis of the poem on this level is given below:
On morphological level, the researcher will explore all the morphological techniques employed in the poem by the poet. The stylistic analysis of the poem on morphological level is the following:
Affix
An affix is a syllable or more than one syllable that is added to the beginning or the end of the root word to form a new word. Affixes could be divided into Suffix and Prefix. When a syllable is added to the beginning of a root word to form a new word, it is called a prefix and when a syllable is added at the end of a root word to form a new word, it is called a suffix. The pot has used the following affixes in the poem “An Ode to Death.”
Table 1
Suffix | Prefix |
Lifting: lift + ing Says: say + s Clocks: clock + s Ticking: Tick + ing Lives: live + s Galaxies: galaxy + ies Explored: explore + d Seeds: seed + s Blasted: blast + ed Year’s: year + ‘s Terribly: terrible + ly Sinking: sink + ing Bones: bone + s Really: real + ly Indestructible: destruct + able Eyes: eye + s Streams: stream + s Forgotten: forgot + en Rocks: rock + s Wandered: wander + ed Symbols: symbol + s Clutched: clutch + ed Harlots: harlot + s Stars: star + s Addresses: address + es Deceiver: deceive + er Deceived: deceive + ed Floating: float + ing Moved: move + ed | In + destruct + able: indestructible Dis + solve: Dissolve |
Semantic level
Semantics, in linguistics is the study of meanings. On this level, the researcher will explore the different characters in the poem, personification, metaphors, symbols, simile, tone, imagery. All of the aforementioned figurative devices will be explored and explained on this level of stylistics. The analysis of the poem on this level is given below:
Characters
The poem “An Ode to Death” is a dramatic monologue in which a single speaker is inadvertently revealing the aspects of his characters, but by looking closely at the poem, we can conclude our findings that there are two characters in the poem. The poet’s use of the words “I” and “Your” repeatedly suggests that one character is the poet himself while the other character is an imagined person, “your”.
Metaphors
When we use a word or a phrase which shows a direct comparison between two completely different objects on the basis of some similar traits in them, that word or phrase is called a metaphor. In the poem “An Ode to Death”, the poet has used a metaphor in the following lines:
“And in every particle of carbon-dust
There lives a diamond dream”
In the aforementioned lines, the words “diamond dream” represent man’s wishes. It means that every human has a lot of wishes but those wishes and ambitions die with him when he dies. The poet’s use of the metaphor “diamond dream” instead of any other figurative device shows that the connection between man's life and his wishes is a closed one rather than an extended one. A metaphor directly compares two objects. That is why the poet has compared man's wishes with life. If the poet had used a simile instead of the metaphor, the meaning would have been completely different and the connection between a man’s dreams and wishes, and his life would have been an extended one. But the poet seems to be very clear on the point that there is a place for wishes and dreams in every single person’s life.
Symbols
Symbols are words used in a literary work that represent something else. In the poem “An Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal, the poet has used different symbols to convey his message:
“how many galaxies yet to be explored”.
In this line, the word “galaxies” does not literally mean the galaxies in the sky, but here it has a symbolical meaning. It means man’s wishes, dreams, and ambitions. Man’s wishes are not fulfilled throughout his entire life. He has wishes after wishes, and those wishes die with him when he dies.
The poet has used the word “galaxies” as a symbol for man’s wishes and ambitions because just like billions of galaxies in the sky, man's wishes are also infinite. He could have used another word to intend the infinite number of man’s wishes but it would not have been an artistic choice of words. The word galaxies is also interchangeable with words like “dreams", “ambitions”, and “Islands” to mean the nonstop discoveries of the aforementioned things and the comparison of these things with man’s wishes but these words do not have the artistic touch and the symbolical fun in them.
“The pine tree blasted by last year’s Thunderbolt
And the burnt-out match-stick in my ashtray look so terribly alike”
In these lines, the poet used symbols like “Pine tree” and “match-stick”. Pine tree here represents rich people or strong people. It also represents people who used to be the glamour and trend of their time. “Match-stick” symbolizes poor people or weak people. It also represents those people who were considered very inferior in their time. The poet has made a genius comparison here between the two. Both the pine tree and the match-stick had the same ending when they died. Similarly, death does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, between the old and the young, between the strong and the weak, and between the common and the special. Both the rich and the poor meet the same end when they die.
The poet has used “matchstick" as a symbol to mean poor or weak or small people. It is a genius use of the symbol, because a matchstick is also small in shape, weak in glamour, and pathetic. Even a kid can break a matchstick. There could not have been a better usage of the symbol for the poet’s intended message.
“But the clocks go on ticking as before”.
In this line the word “clocks” symbolizes “time”. It means that time dos not stop for anyone. It goes on and on. It does not stop when someone dies. Here, the poet’s use of the word “clock" for time is a perfect one. Nothing else could have been used to mean time in a better way.
“Two streams mingle in a forgotten river.”
In this line, the words “two streams” symbolizes man’s body and soul. The words “forgotten river” represents the mortal life. Here the poet presents the Islamic perspective about death. It is an Islamic approach towards death. It means that man has forgotten his main aim of coming to this world. Man has become so engrossed in the luxuries of life that he does not remember his real aim of his life. Man has forgotten that he has to die one day. The poet has used this symbolical expression so perfectly that it completely fits with the subject of the poem. This line could also be said like this:
/Man is lost in this mortal life/, but it would not have been a symbolized phrase. And a poet uses simple words to mean a deep philosophical message.
“Only sleep and silence there
No anchorage for grief.”
In these lines, the words “sleep and silence” represent the eternal peace in heaven after death. It means that there is no place for grief after death. There is only peace and happiness there.
“I have seen the “stars plummet to their dark addresses”
In the above line, the words “dark addresses” symbolizes graves. It means that eve those people’s last destination is grave who were used to be the news of the day. Even the celebrities and legendary people will face death and lay down in their graves.
Imagery
Imagery in literature means that to use words in such a way that it creates pictures and images in our minds and it appeals to our sense of seeing. The poet has used imagery in the poem “An Ode to Death” in the following lines:
“I have sat by your bedside and felt
Your sinking pulse. Are the hair and bones
Really indestructible and how long
Does it take for the eyes
To dissolve in the grave?
These lines present a mental picture in our minds. We can almost see the poet sitting with someone and talking with him. It is the effect of imagery on readers that they can almost feel and see the situation with their naked eyes.
The poet could have also used a metaphor or a simile to show us how a man looks like when he is dying. But his use of imagery instead of other figurative devices is a perfect way to make us feel and see a dying man through our own eyes.
Tone
The tone of the poem is not a happy and relaxing one. The whole poem has a dark, gloomy, and dejected atmosphere. The theme of death is so visible in the whole poem that one cannot think of anything else that his own death. Thus the whole theme of the poem is dark, sad, and gloomy.
Style
The poem is written in the style of a dramatic monologue, a type of poem in which there is a single speaker who is revealing the aspects of his character or characters unknowingly.
Form of the Poem
The poem “An Ode to death” by Daud Kamal is written in Ode form. An ode is a type of poem in which a poet expresses his deep personal feelings and emotions about a subject. These feelings are presented in a way that creates a musical effect. It is like a song due to its effect of musicality.
Theme of the Poem
The theme of the poem is visible from the very first two lines of the poem:
“Your ode to death is in the lifting of a single eyebrow. Lift it and see. (Conrad Aiken)
Death is more than certain, says e.e Cummings,”
The main concern of the poet in his poem is the universal approach of death. Through the usage of different figurative devices and symbolical expressions, the poet wants to convey his idea of death’s inevitability that death can come for anybody at any time. Life may be uncertain but death is more than certain. Death is something that could be understood through the perception of life. Death does not discriminate between rich and poor, between old and young, between white and black, between weak and powerful.
Theme of realism is also there in the poem. Humans are always busy with the luxuries of life and with the materialistic world that all of a sudden death comes for them. It is at the time of their death that they realize that everyone has to taste death.
Lexical Level
Lexical is derived from the term lexis which means the diction or the words or the vocabulary used in a poem by a poet. On this level of stylistics, the researcher will explore and analyze the different elements of lexical level that are:
Noun
Pronoun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Conjunction
Interjection
Preposition
Articles
The analysis of the poem on this level is given below:
Lexical is derived from the term lexis which means the diction or the words or the vocabulary used in a poem by a poet. On this level of stylistics, the researcher will explore and analyze the different elements of lexical level that are:
Noun: It is a naming word.
Pronoun: A word that is used instead of a noun is called a pronoun. It takes the place of a noun in a sentence.
Verb: A word that is used for some action or an activity, that is called a verb. It is an action word.
Adjective: A word which qualifies or modifies or explains a noun or a pronoun in a sentence, that word is called an adjective.
Adverb: A word which qualifies or modifies, or adds something to the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, that word is called an adverb.
Conjunction: A word that is used to join two words, two phrases, or two clauses is called conjunction.
Interjection: A word that is used in a sentence to express sudden feelings of joy, happiness, or grief is called interjection.
Preposition: A word that is used in a sentence to show the relation between a noun and other things in a sentence is called preposition.
Articles: Articles are modifiers that modify the nouns after them.
Table 2
Stylistic analysis of the poem on lexical level
Noun | Pronoun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb | Preposition | Conjunction | Article |
Ode Death Eyebrow Death Certain Clocks Particle Carbon Dust Dream Galaxies Seeds Pomegranate time Pine Tree Year’s Thunderbolt Match-stick Ashtray Bedside Pulse Hair Bones Eyes Grave Streams River Eye Tear Archipelago Rocks Sleep Silence Anchorage Grief Forest Symbols Harlots Memory Stars Addresses Absence Neck Bygones Bygones | It I Your It There There I I Their I Who Who I You Which Us
| is lifting lift see is go lives be explore blasted look have sat felt are does take dissolve mingle is have wandered clutched have seen plummet have felt let be was was were moved | Your Single More Every Diamond Many Many Last Burn-out My Alike Your Sinking Indestructible Long Two Forgotten Naked Only No Dark Your My Deceiver Deceived floating | As Before There How Yet How So Terribly Really How Too
| To In Of On In Of To In Of By In By For To In In Between Of For In Of At To Around On On Of away | And Than But And And And And And And And But And And
| the a the a the the the the the the a the the the a the the the the a the
|
The poet has used mostly simple nouns which are related to nature or natural phenomena. The poet has used nouns like death, dust, streams, thunderstorms, galaxies, streams, river, archipelago, etc. These nouns are closely related to a natural process that must happen at a certain time. The time is uncertain but the happening is certain. Same is the case with life and death. Life is uncertain but death is absolutely certain. The poet has used these nouns in a perfect way and it closely goes with the theme of the poem. Most of the verbs are in the past tense, which shows that the poet has enjoyed his life to the fullest in the past and he has “wandered in the forest of symbols”, but now he is not happy with what he has done in the past, and keeping in mind the certainty of death and the life after death, the poet is in grief. The adjectives used by the poet also go with the dark and looming environment of the poem. The poet has used words like “Burn-out”, “sinking”, “indestructible”, “forgotten”, “dark”, “deceiver”, “floating”, which gives the idea of decline and destruction. So, the words usage by the poet is really perfect and fits with the theme of the poem.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Findings of the study reveal that Daud Kamal has used very simple words, and employed a very common language in his poem “An Ode to Death” to convey his message of death’s inevitability and life’s fragility. The poet has used different symbols and other figurative devices to support his point. The findings of the study also show that the different phonological devices used in the poem have created a musical effect, which also gives a quality of a lyric to the poem. Thus it is certain that the poem is a lyric due to its musical effect and is written in a very basic and common language. The stylistic analysis of the poem reveals the hidden features of the poem. Those features are: the poet has used a very strange kind of beginning by giving the quotations of two other poets in the very beginning of his poem. Besides, it is revealed that there is no specific meter and definitive rhyme scheme employed in the poem. The poem is written in a free verse style with no specific length or rhythm of lines. Every line is different from the other in length and rhythm. The researcher also found out that Daud Kamal has used language in a finest way. The use of language in “Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal is so simple and ordinary that even a non-specialized reader can comprehend the poem in a better way. About the language and form of the poem, the research concludes that the poet has not used any bombastic vocabulary for embellishment or style. The form of the poem is very simple and easy to be understood.
The researcher also found out that the poet has kept the theme of the poem in certain words in the poem. Among many visible themes, the theme of death is the most prominent one. It is very clear from words like “pine tree”, “match-stick”, and “ashtray”. These words give the idea of rot and decay, and thus leave the impression of the permanent loss in the form of death. Readers can get the idea of decline and decay, and most importantly the idea of death from the aforementioned words. The poet has stressed on the restricted life of man warning the general audience that a man’s lots of wishes cannot be fulfilled in this short life.
The researcher of this study recommends other researchers carrying a comparative study of Duad Kamal’s poem “An Ode to Death” with other poems in special reference to death. Other researchers can take other writer’s works that discuss the theme of death comparing it with Duad Kamal’s poem “An Ode to Death”. Imagist’s traits are abundantly found in Daud Kamal’s work. Other researchers can also find out the effect of Ezra Pound’s Imagists traits on Daud Kamal’s writing found in his works.
References
Ali, H., Bhatti, I. A., & Shah, A. H. (2016). Stylistics Analysis of the Poem―Hope is The Thing with Feathers‖. World Journal of Research and Review (WJRR), 3(5), 18-21. https://www.wjrr.org/download_data/WJRR0305032.pdf
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Hashmi, M. A., Mahmood, M. A., & Mahmood, M. I. (2019). Stylistic analysis of Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening”. International Journal of English Linguistics, 9(3), 373. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v9n3p373
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Mukhtar, K. O. M. A. L. (2017). Stylistic Analysis of Ted Hughes’ Poem:“The Casualty. Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL), 5(4), 394-401. http://www.rjelal.com/5.4.17a/394-%20401%20KOMAL%20MUKHTAR.pdf
Pervez, W. (2018). A Semantic Analysis of Daud Kamal’s “An Ode to Death”. International Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Studies, 5(8), 21-24. https://www.ijrhss.org/papers/v5-i8/4.pdf
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1 M.Phil. Scholar, Department of English, Northern University, Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
2 SS English in E&SEd, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
3 M.Phil. Scholar, Department of English, Northern University, Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
4 M.Phil. Scholar, Department of English, Northern University, Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
5 M.Phil. Scholar, Department of English, Northern University, Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
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