ISSN: 2302-920X

Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud

Vol 16.3 September 2016: 92 – 99

Figurative Language In Robert Frost’s And William Wordsworth’s Selected Poem

I Gede Yusma Pradita Arya Surya Dharma1*, I Gde Sadia2, I Made Winaya3 123

123English Department, Faculty Of Arts Udayana University

1[[email protected]] 2[[email protected]]

3[[email protected]]

Abstrak

Judul penelitian ini adalah “Majas pada puisi pilihan Robert Frost dan William Wordsworth”.Dipilihnya puisi dari Robert Frost dan William Wordsworth karena kedua orang tersebut termasuk salah satu pujangga terbesar yang pernah ada dan kemudian menarik untuk membandingkan jenis majas yang dipakai oleh para pujangga tersebut. Penelitian ini diambil dari salah satu alamat website yaitu http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/top_poems.html. Data dikumpulkan dengan melakukan study pustaka dengan metode kualitatif. Teori yang digunakan untuk menganalisa data yang telah dikumpulkan adalah Teori dari Knickerbocker dan Reninger berjudul Intrepreting Literature dan juga teori dari M.A.K Haliday berjudul Functional Grammar. Teori-teori ini digunakan untuk menganalisa majas-majas apa saja yang terkandung dalam masing-masing puisi.Dan untuk menganalisa pengertian dari majas tersebut digunakan teori dari G.N Leech berjudul Semantics. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa terdapat 7 macam majas yang terdapat pada semua puisi yang dianalisis yaitu, Metafora, Personifikasi, Simile, Hiperbola, Ironi, Allusion, dan Simbol. Kemudian dimana majas-majas tersebut dipakai oleh penulis untuk memberikan sensasi yang special dan memungkinkan penulis mengekspresikan ide-idenya dengan cara yang seni.

Kata kunci : Majas,Puisi,Pujangga

  • 1.    Background of the Study

Literary work is considered an expression of the soul and emotion of the author. Literature is a creative work, an artistic work (Wellek, 1984:3). Generally, the literary work can be grouped into four types, namely: drama, poetry, fiction and essay. Poetry is the hymn of praise and the essays on the nature of poetry have been written a lot indicating that poetry in some work of great interest. Good talk about poetry is nevertheless rare and even the best of it will rest lightly on fallow ground until we ourselves have learned how to penetrate the inner life of few poems ( Knickerbockers, 1963 : 307 )

Figurative language is sometimes called metaphorical language or simply metaphor because its Greek ancestor “metaphoric” means to carry meaning beyond its literal meaning (Knickerbockers, 1963: 367).

This study is intended to find out the kinds of figurative language and the function. Therefore, for the sake of the study the writer tries to study the selected Robert Frost’s and William Wordsworth’s poems as the object of study.

  • 2.    Problems of the Study

Based on the background stated above, the problems of the study are “What types of figurative language are found in the poems?” And “What meaning is represented by the use of the figurative language in the poems?”

  • 3.    Aims of the Study

Based on the background and problems stated above, the aim of the study is “To find out what types of figurative language found in Robert Frost’s and William Wordsworth’s poems.” And “To find out what is the meaning of the figurative language used in Robert Frost’s and William Wordsworth’s poems.”

  • 4.    Research Method

Research method is a method used in a process of how people approach the problems and seek the answers through finding, collecting and analyzing the data. In this writing, there are three steps formulated as follows: 4.1 Data source

Data source is the source from which the data to be analyzed are obtained in order to support to study validity. According to the need of analysis, the data on the study were taken from the poems written by Robert Frost and William Wordsworth. The poems     themselves     were     taken     from     the     Internet     from

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/top_poems.html.

  • 4.2    Method and Technique of Collecting Data

The data were collected through the library research. Firstly, in order to understand the object of study, it was important to read the poem carefully. The methods used included reading the poem as many times as needed in order to get 93

words, phrases, clauses, or sentences that contain figurative language and then by taking notes of them. The reading mainly was focused on identifying various figurative languages occurring in the “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”, “the Road not Taken” written by Robert Frost and “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, “Lines Written in Early Spring” written by William Wordsworth.

  • 4.3    Method and Technique of Analyzing Data

The collected data are formal and descriptively presented. Based on Knickerbocker and Reninger’s theory, the step was deciding the types of figurative language. The figurative languages found were classified according to their types and were presented formally through the table in order to make easy for us to see and to simplify the analysis. Below, there is descriptive explanation of that figurative language. The last step was analyzing the meaning of the collected figurative language according to the Leech’s story.

  • 5.    Analysis of Figurative Language and The Meaning Found in The Poem

The analysis is be focused on the types of figurative language found in the selected poems of Robert Frosts and William Wordsworth and the meaning that is represented by the use of words based on the concept of figurative language proposed by Knickerbockers and Renninger (1963) and the theory meaning proposed by Geoffrey Leech (1974). Both theories were the major theories used in this writing. The theory of figurative proposed by Knickerbockers and Renninger was used to analyze the figurative language and semantic theory by Geoffrey Leech was used to analyze about the meaning.

  • 5.1    Figurative Language and The Meaning Represented in Robert Frost’s Poem

  • 1.    Personification

Personification is a type of metaphor in which a lifeless object, an animal or abstract ideas are made to act like a person and thereby gives animation, vividness 94

and nearness those things which are normally thought of as impersonal and aloof from human affairs or giving human characteristics to an object, animal, or an abstract idea (Knickerbocker and Renninger, 1963:367).

  • - In my little horse must think it queer, it selected as personification since the horse is personified to act as human being who can exchange his thought with another person.

  • 2.    Metaphor

Metaphor is an implied comparison, or an expression that is used in a new sense, on the basis of similarity between its literal sense and the new thing or situation to which it is applied, with ‘like’ or ‘as’ omitted (Knickerbocker and Renninger, 1963:367).

  • -    He gives his harness bells a shake, to ask if there is some mistake. It selected as metaphor due the comparison of the sounds of the bells to questioning a voice to ask whether there is a mistake.

  • -    Between the woods and the frozen lake. Being between the woods and the frozen lake is a metaphor for Frost having strange feelings, perhaps caught between two feelings which he cannot decipher.

  • -    The darkest evening of the year. It is selected as Metaphor since it represented Frost being very depressed.

  • 3.    Symbol

Symbol is a thing (could be an object, person, situation or action) which stands for something else more abstract.

  • -    The description of the woods in the last stanza as ‘lovely, dark and deep’ symbolizing the happy life after death.

  • -    The entire journey can represent life's journey. "Dark woods" also becomes a powerful recurring symbol.

  • 4.    Allusion

Allusion is reference to some well-known place, event or person. Not a comparison in the exact sense, but a figure in the sense that it implies more than its narrow meaning (Knickerbocker and Renninger, 1963:367).

  • - The darkest evening of the year. It selected as Allusion since this sentence gave reference that only this evening which has dark uncommonly if compared with anothers within a year.

  • 5.    Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure of speech which employs an exaggeration that is used for special effect (Knickerbocker and Renninger, 1963:367).

  • - To watch his woods fill up with snow. It is called Hyperbole because the sentence ‘To watch his woods fill up with snow’ is impossible because in reality, no woods can be fully fill up with snow. So this sentence is an overstatement.

  • 5.2    Figurative Language and The Meaning Represented in William Wordsworth’s Poem

  • 1.    Simile

Simile is stated a comparison of two similar things introduced by the words like or as (Knickerbocker and Renninger). Myers (1994 : 125) stated that simile does the same thing as a metaphor, but with a like or as if in the wording to show that it is not literal.

  • -    I wandered lonely as a cloud. The word as in the sentence was Comparison of the speaker solitariness to that of a cloud.

  • -    Continuous as the stars that shine. The word as used to compared the Daffodils and the stars shine.

  • 2.    Personification

Personification is a type of metaphor in which a lifeless object, an animal or abstract ideas made to act like a person and thereby gives animation, vividness and nearness those things which are normally thought of as impersonal and aloof from human affairs or giving human characteristics to an object, animal, or an abstract idea (Knickerbocker and Renninger, 1963:367).

  • -    I wandered Lonely as a cloud. It selected as personification because the word as used to compared the cloud and lonely human.

  • -    When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden Daffodils. The word at once seems that Frosts try to make Comparison of Daffodils and a crowd of people.

  • -    A host, of golden Daffodils; Beside the Lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. It selected as Personification since Frosts describe Daffodils were fluttering and dancing, which is not reliable. So it was comparison of Daffodils to dancing human.

  • 3.    Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure of speech which employs an exaggeration that is used for special effect (Knickerbocker and Renninger, 1963:367). An exaggeration statement is used to heighten the effect. It is not used to mislead the reader, but to emphasize a point

  • - They stretched in never ending line. It considered as Hyperbole because the word ending line employs an exaggeration which in the poem refers to Daffodil

Ten thousand saw I at a glance. Ten thousands saw in the line is used to emphasize the words never ending line in the previous line. So, it also considered as Hyperbole.

  • 6.    Conclusion

After analyzing Robert Frost’s and William Wordsworth’s poems. It can be concluded that there are some figurative language used by the poets in the construction of their poem.

In Robert Frost’s selected Poems; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and the Road not Taken. In Stopping by Woods on aSnowy Evening, there are five kinds of figurative languages that Robert Frost used in his poem. They are Personification, Metaphor, Symbol, Allusion and Hyperbole. Another poem that was analysed is The Road not Taken. In the poem, there are five kinds of figurative languages used by Frosts to construct the poem. They are Simile, Personification, Metaphor, Irony and Symbol.

Then, in William Wordsworth’s selected Poems; I wandered Lonely as a Cloud and Lines Written in Early Spring. In I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, there are three kind of figurative languages used in the poem. They are Simile, Personification and Hyperbole. Another Wordsworth’s poem is Lines Written in Early Spring, figurative language used that found just Personification.

  • 7.    Bibliography

Abrams, M.H. 1970. A Glossary of Literary Term. New York: Cornell University.

Ayu Handayani, Ni Nyoman.2001. Figurative Meaning of the Poem “The Rainbow”.Denpasar:   English Department, Faculty of Letters, Udayana

University.

Brown, J. D. and Rodgers, T. S. 2002. Doing Second Language Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Daiches, David. 1981. Critical Approaches to Literature. Essex : Longman Group Ltd.

Halliday, M. A. K. 1986. Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.

Holman, C. Hugh. 1986. A Handbook to Literature. USA: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.

Keeney, William. 1966. How to Analyze Poetry. USA, Manhattan: Monarch Press.

Knickerbocker, K.L. and H. Willard Reninger. 1963. Interpreting Literature. Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

Kusuma Wardani, Kadek Deny.2007. The Analysis of Figurative Meaning of Emily Dickinson’s “After Great Pain”.Denpasar: English Department, Faculty of Letters, Udayana University.

Leech, G. N. 1966. English in Advertising-A Linguistic Study of Advertising in Great Britain. London: Longman Group Limited.

Leech, G. N. 1974. Semantics. Auckland: Penguin Books.

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