Deviant Language of

Poetry
 Definition
By deviant use of language we mean the language
which is unusual, uncommon and unclear and
different. It is different from our everyday use of
language.
 Definition Explained

• Literature is an art which is expressed through

language but the language of literature is different
from the language of our day to day life.
• It has been argued that poetry frequently breaks the
rules of language but by doing so, it communicates
with us in a fresh and original way.
 Definition Explained

• The language of poetry is not easily understandable

by the people who are not familiar in this field.
• It deviates from the norms and convention and
differs from the standard use of language.
 Definition Explained

• It is the freedom of writing like poetic license. Poetic

license is Defined by Dryden as the Liberty of
Writing.
• Poetic license is applied in all the ways in which a
poet is held to be free to violate the ordinary norms
of speech.
 Definition Explained
• So we can say the breaking of standard norms of language
is deviation. Since deviant use of language has been started
from poetry, we can say this as the definite language of
poetry.
• This is also called literary language.
• Literary language is usually defined as the language which
has been written for an artistic purpose to give pleasure or to
evoke thought.
 Features of Deviant Language of Poetry

Figurative Language
Poetic Diction
Word Order
Prosody
  Figurative Language

• Figurative language is used to achieve a special

meaning or effect.
• Language of poetry is distinguished by the use of
figurative use of language.
 Figurative Language Contd…

• Figurative language refers to words or phrases that

are meaningful, but not literally true.
• Figurative language is a type of communication that
does not use a word’s strict or realistic meaning.
 Examples

• “That news hit me like a ton of bricks”

• We saw lights dance in the distance.
• She was swimming in money.
• He is the lion of this family.
 Figurative Language Contd…
• The opposite of figurative language is literal language,
that uses the exact meaning of the words without
imagination or exaggeration.
• For example, if an athlete is doing well, you might say
they’re “on fire” figuratively. If their clothes catch on
fire (which hopefully doesn’t happen), then they’d be on
fire literally.
 Types
The ancient division of figurative language is:
1. Figures of Thought / Tropes
2. Figures of Speech / Rhetorical Figures
 Figures of Speech

• A figure of speech is a deviation from the plain and

ordinary way of speaking, for the sake of greater
effect.
• A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or
phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary
language use in order to produce a rhetorical effect.
 Classification of Figures of Speech

• Figures based on Similarity

• Figures based on Difference
• Figures based on Association
• Figures based on Imagination
 Classification of Figures of Speech

• Figures based on Indirectness

• Figures based on Sound
• Figures based on Construction
 Figures based on Similarity

• Simile • Parable
• Metaphor • Fable
• Allegory
 Figures based on Difference

• Antithesis • Climax
• Epigram • Bathos (Anticlimax)
• Paradox
• Oxymoron
 Figures based on Association

• Metonymy
• Synecdoche
• Hypallage (Transferred Epithet)
• Allusion
 Figures based on Imagination

• Personification • Vision (Prosopopoeia)

• Personal Metaphor • Hyperbole
• Apostrophe (Exaggeration)

• Pathetic Fallacy
 Figures based on Indirectness

• Innuendo • Euphemism
• Irony • Meiosis
• Sarcasm • Litotes
• Periphrasis
 Figures based on Sound

• Alliteration
• Onomatopoeia
• Pun (Paronomasia)
 Figures based on Construction

• Interrogation (Erotesis, Rhetorical Question)

• Exclamation
  Poetic Diction

• Poetic diction is selection of words in a work of

literature. The writers’ diction can be analyzed under
a great variety of categories like the degree to which
the vocabulary is abstract or colloquial or formal,
technical or common.
 Poetic Diction Contd..

• Poetic diction describes the language of poetry. It is

differentiated from everyday language and that
which is commonly used in poems, by its style,
vocabulary, and use of figurative language.
 Poetic Diction Contd..

• Poetic diction refers to the operating language of

poetry, language employed in a manner that sets
poetry apart from other kinds of speech or writing. It
involves the vocabulary, the phrasing, and the
grammar considered appropriate and inappropriate
to poetry at different times.
 Poetic Diction Contd..

• Poetic diction is a special language which includes

words phrases Syntax and types of figures not
occurred in ordinary conversation of the time.
• Poetic diction is a special type of selection of words
that can be understood by the people who are
familiar to the literary language.
  Word Order

• The arrangement of words in sentence.

• All language has fixed order of word for arrangement in
a sentence. Words have to be arranged in a particular
and proper order following grammatical and structural
rules and convention. But in poetry poets disturb the
word order to give special effect.
 Examples

• “Talent Mr. Micawber has; capital Mr. Micawber has

not” (Dickens)
• “A good generous prayer it was.” (Mark Twain)
• “Rude am I in my speech...” (Shakespeare)
  Prosody

• Prosody is the systematic study of versification.

That is the principle practices of metre, rhyme and
stanza pattern. It is the analysis of the rhythmic
structure of sounds, especially in verse.
 Prosody Contd…

• The word derives from the Latin prosodia, meaning

“accent of a syllable.” The Latin meaning originated
from the Greek prosoidia, which means both “song
sung to music” and “accent modulation.”
 Prosody Contd…

• The presentation of a poem in verse, the rhythmic

and musical quality of poetry makes it different from
everyday common use of language.
• Prosody, the study of all the elements of language
that contribute toward acoustic and rhythmic effects,
chiefly in poetry but also in prose.
 Branches of Prosody

• Ortheopy (dealing with the quantity and accent of

syllables, emphasis, pauses and tones)
• Versification (dealing with the laws of metre)
 Prosody Includes

• Syllable • Rhythm
• Accent • Foot
• Stress • Metre
• Intonation • Rhyme
 References
• Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Figure of speech. Encyclopædia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/art/figure-of-speech
• Poets, Academy of American. “Poetic Diction | Academy of American Poets.” Poets.org,
poets.org/glossary/poetic-diction.
• “Poetic Diction.” Poem Analysis, poemanalysis.com/diction/poetic-diction/
• “Prosody | Literature.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/art/prosody.
• “Stylistic Inversion.” StudFiles, studfile.net/preview/5271381/page:8/. Accessed 19 Sept.
2023.
 References
• “SuperSummary.” SuperSummary, www.supersummary.com/prosody/.
• Thakur, Gopal Mallick The Anatomy of Rhetoric and Prosody. Friend’s Book Corner, 2016.
• Wikipedia Contributors. “Figure of Speech.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Mar. 2019,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_of_speech.