IMAGERY AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

IN THE POEM “A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM ’’
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Ni Wayan Jero Nusari Padni

Jurusan Sastra Inggris,Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Udayana

Abstrak :

Penelitian ini berjudul "Citra dan Bahasa Figuratif dalam Puisi Allan Edgar “A Dream Within A Dream". Fokus dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis citra dan bahasa kiasan yang digunakan dalam puisi, yang bertujua nuntuk mengetahui jenis citra dan bahasa figuratif, dan fungsi bahasa kiasan yang digunakan dalam puisi itu.

Data dalam tulisan ini diperoleh melalui penelitian kepustakaan. Data dianalisis dengan menggunakan teori bahasa kiasan yang diusulkan oleh Knicker brocker dan Reninger (1963) dan didukung oleh teori-teori lain yang diusulkan oleh Warren dan Wellek(1962).

Temuan penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa ada lima jenis bahasa kiasan yang ditemukan dalam puisi, yaitu hiperbola, personifikasi, metafora, simile, dan paradoks dan 4 jenis citra, yaitu kinesthesia, visual, pendengaran, dan taktil. Penggunaan bahasa figuratif dalam puisi adalah untuk membawa arti dari kata-kata dalam puisi itu dari tingkat figuratif. Penyair mampu menciptakan rasa yang lebih baik kepada pembaca dengan menjelaskan benda-benda di puisi itu, dengan menggunakan cara figuratif.

Kata kunci:Puisi, citra, bahasa kiasan.

1.Introduction

Imagery is an use of language which makes us form a mental pictures, an image, of what is being spoken about, makes us image it (Smith,1985: 86). Figurative language is one which gives shape and substance to experience ideas.

( Merdangga. 2007).

The difinition of poetry is difficult. Poetry does different things to different reader. poetry is a literary work with cramming words complete with rhythm and sound style as word image. The words are selected so that the work has strength.

Because of the selected words, poetry has harmonization and soul. Some forms of respond to poetry are emotion, joy, love, misery, sadness, etc. According to Philip (1969 :185) in a book entitled Effective English, in principle, verbal art most easily observed in the lyric poem, which contains the informative at low ebb, the emotive at is peak generally coneded to be the greatest of verbal art forms; poetry has been defined communicatively as “The right word in the right place at the right time”. (Cahyani. 2009).

There are a lot of things that can discussed in a poem, but this writing analysis concentrates only on the analysis of the figurative and the analysis of imagery used in the poem. Figurative language is defined as a certain literary device which is commonly applied by the outdor to gain strength and freshness of their literary works expression. Figurative language is also called metaphorical language or simply metaphor because its Greek ancestor “metaphorical” means to carry meaning beyond its literal meaning (Knickerbocker, 1963: 367). The figurative language in literary work is generally divided into simile, metaphor, personification, synecdoche, metonymy, hyperbole, irony, dead metaphor, allusion, paradox. The idea and message of a poem sometime difficult to understood by the people. In other to find out at least the idea of the poem, people should have basic knowledge about figurative language, since the ideas in a poem are mostly conveyed in figurative language.

The poem that was studied here is entitled “A Dream within a dream” one of Edgar Allan poe poems’s. Edgar Allan poe is one of the most celebrated of all American authors. Heavily influenced by the German Romantic Ironists, Poe made his mark in Gothic fiction, especially through the tales of the macabre for which he is now so famous. Although he regarded himself primarily as a poet, he is one of the few indisputably great writers of the short story, alongside Guy de Maupassant and O. Henry. Besides redefining that form as a vehicle for literary art, Poe also contributed to the modern detective genre and wrote highly influential literary criticism.

2.Problems

The relevant problem to be discussed in this study is “A Dream within a dream”, would be formulated as follows what types of imagery are employed in the poem and what kinds and functions of figurative language are found used in the poem.

3.Aims

Referring to the topic, the aims of this study are to identify and describe the types of imagery,kinds and function of figurative language in the poem.

4.Methods

Research method is a system or procedure that is used in to order to examine certain objects. It is included what the sources of the data, the method and technique of collection data which will be explained how the data will be taken from the sources and how those data is will be analyzed. The method that applied in this research will be used library research method. It will do by using the books which will be related to the study. The method which are used in this study include such as aspects as followsData source,Method and Technique of Collecting Data,Method and Technique of Analyzing Data.

5.Results and Discussion

This chapter analyzes the structure of the poem “A Dream within a Dream”, in which are found imagery and figurative language. However, we should know the biography of the poet first because we can get better understanding of the poem if we have enough information about the poet.

Biography of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. That makes him Capricorn, on the cusp of Aquarius. His parents were David and Elizabeth Poe. David was born in Baltimore on July 18, 1784. Elizabeth Arnold came to the U.S. from England in 1796 and married David Poe after her first husband died in 1805.They had three children, Henry, Edgar, and Rosalie.

The poem“A Dream within a Dream” is written by Edgar Allan Poe. It consists of two stanzas.The Poem expresses feelings of desperation and sadness at the passing of time, comparable to the characteristic of a dream. The person wishes he

could hold on to just a moment of his life. He questions if anything in life is real or is it all "But a dream within a dream?" “A Dream within a Dream” by Edgar Allan Poe was first publishedin 1849.(Internet site/www.poemhunter/Edgar Allan). The poem

runs or follows:

A Dream within a Dream

Take this kiss upon the brow! a And, in parting from you now, a Thus much let me avow- a You are not wrong, who deem b That my days have been a dream; b Yet if hope has flown away c In a night, or in a day, c In a vision, or in none, d Is it therefore the less gone? d All that we see or seem b Is but a dream within a dream. b

I stand amid the roar e Of a surf-tormented shore, e And I hold within my hand f Grains of the golden sand- f How few! yet how they creep g Through my fingers to the deep, g While I weep- while I weep! g O God! can I not grasp h Them with a tighter clasp? h O God! can I not save i One from the pitiless wave? i Is all that we see or seem b But a dream within a dream? b

Content of the Poem

The content of the poem is what is being communicated. The content is what people can paraphrase and what people get when they the poem and put it into prose. The content of the poem is what is being communicated through the poem or what the poem is all about. The following is the content of the poem:

First stanza: with a warm kiss, the poem suggests a final farewell. In the contect of this poem someoneis talking to himself. He feels that the time has passed and seems to separate the ordinary matter of life expectancy. The person hopes somebody is desired. But in the cold light of day it is more common and suffering is no less real and painful. The person hopes the life force runs through everything. Hope is a dream, life is a dream, and everything can be seen in a dream, but after that waking up is an end view of both, things are forgotten.

Second Stanza: I stand amid the roarof a surf tormented shore, and I hold within my hand grains of the golden sand how few! yet how they creep through my fingers to the deep, while I weep- while I weep! o god! can I not graspo god! can I not save one from the pitiless wave? is all that we see or seem but a dream within a dream?andthere is no peace in life wish and hope that tormented cry and plead with god.

Paraphrase of “A Dream within a Dream

Paraphrase is the retelling in one’s own words what the poem is about “A Dream within A Dream” is one of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems. This poem consists of two stanzas. The structure of "A Dream withinA Dream" consists of two stanzas containing two different but reality. The first stanza shows tothe point of view of a person aboutseparation, while the other places a person stand on the beach while tryingto think if holding the sand in his hand and then sending it down one by one off his hands. Thi stanza describesa patient, smiling, goodbye. Whereas the person in the beach while seeing the roar and he said "O God!"feeling sad along reflect the torment inhissoul.

Despite the apparent differences between the two stanzas,they are linked throughexpressing the state of being similar of their memory. In the first image, a person is leaving his lover, indicating any of powers of the body the qualityto their

love.Accordingly, the falling grains of sand in the second stanza recall the image of an hourglass, which in turn represents the part of time. As the sand flows away until all time has passed, the lovers' time also disappears, and the sand and the romance each turn into impressions from a dream. Through the sound occuring at the beginning of two or more words in "grains of the golden sand," the Poet emphasizes the "golden" or desired nature of both the sand and of love, but he shows clearly thatto permanently attainable.

As the title, the phrase "a dream within a dream" has a special significance any interpretations of the poem. Poe takes the idea of a daydream and twists it so that the ability to see of the quality of being real occurs at two degrees the state of being not influenced by other people away from the quality of being real. Consequently, this quality of being real reflects upon itself through the dream medium, and the people can no longer distinguish the relationship between cause and effectin his perception. By showing thepeople distress at his observations, the poet magnifies the risks of uncertainty and of the potential changes to his identity. Time is a powerful but mysteriousthat promotes lack of agreement betweena major character in poem self and his abilities of comprehension, and the daydreamto catch him. Alternatively, the poem itself may be viewed as the outermost dream, where inside dream is merely a special activity of a person mind.

Imagery and Figurative Language in “A Dream within a Dream”

The object of ability to see, of all a normal state of mind; the ability to think clearly may be produced as a general impression that a person in the mind. A general impression that a person are essentially word pictures and usually work by a way of doing. There were several imageries found in the poem.

Figurative Language in “A Dream within A Dream”

Figurative language provides the non literal meaning for the poem. In the poem, several figurative languages could be found. However, there are some figurative languageused in the poem. Those figurative languages are actually employed in each stanza of the poem; the following are figurative language employed in each stanza.

  • 1.    Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a figure which is used to create greater effect than what is common. The use of hyperbole in poetry can be found in the following sentences: "O God! can I not save one from the pitiless wave?" (Second stansa, line ten).

  • 2.    Personification

Personification is a kind of metaphor in which inanimate objects, animals or abstract ideas are made to act like humans and thus provide animation, clarity and immediacy that are usually considered to be withdrawn from the impersonal objects or abstract ideas. (Knickerbocker andReninger,1963:367).Based on the theory given, there are several lines, in which personification can be found, "Of the surf tormented shore," (Second stanza, line six)" And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand “(Secondstanza, line seven)" O God! Can I not save One from the pitiless wave?” (Second stanza, line eleven). In the second stanza, the figurative language found is the personification that gives human characteristics like to feel human emotions. Here,the phrase "of a surf-tormented shore," assumes that the poet actually smiles as it someone was tortured. The beach in this sentence makes people feel very unhappy in his mind.

  • 3.    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 Reninger, 1963:367).

4.Paradox

Paradox is a statement of which surface, or easily-seen meaning seems to be illogical, even absurd but making good sense upon closer examination.

(Knickerbocker and Reninger, 1963:367). Based on the theory above, the following are lines in which paradox can be found: "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." (First stanza, line five). The first stanza can be considered as paradox.

Function of Figurative Language in “A Dream within a Dream”

The function of figurative language in this poem is to carry the meaning of the words in the poem from the literal level to the figurative level. The poet is able to create a better sense to the readers by describing the objects in the poem, by using the figurative way rather than the literal way.

6.Conclusion

After all of the discussion and analysis in chapter 3, there are several conclusion that can be taken such as follows:

First, in this poem there are several types of imagery used. Those imageries really help the readers to imagine something, and that imagination really can support the idea being conveyed through the poem. The imageries which are employed in the poem are mostly visual imagery, but there are also other types of imagery such as, kinesthesia, auditory imagery, and tactile imagery.

Second, this poem has employed five types of figurative language, which are hyperbole, personification, metaphor, simile, and paradox.These figurative of speed have helped in creating a special sense based on the chosen topic. The figurative language employed in this poem has several significant functions, which are giving special effects to the readers of the poem. The effects make the poem dramatic, emotional, and expressive. It also gives the poem deeper, stronger, and more interesting senses.

7.Biblioghrapy

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Internet site: htt/www.poemhunter/edgar allan

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