International Journal of Academic Research and Development

ISSN: 2455-4197
www.newresearchjournal.com/academic
Volume 1; Issue 3; March 2016; Page No. 59-64

Lexical and phonological - two levels of stylistics: An analytical study of ted Hughes’ poems
1
A. Fredrick Ruban, 2 Dr. Helen Unius Backiavathy
1
M.Phil., Research Scholar, Department of English, Karunya University, Coimbatore
2
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Karunya University, Coimbatore

Abstract
The objective of the research paper is to segment the poetic language of Ted Hughes in stylistic perspective. In addition, it intends
to analyse the effective presence and functions of the two levels of stylistics: lexical and phonological. The lexical level analysis
encompasses hyperbole and oxymoron, similarly, the phonological level analysis includes alliteration, assonance and consonance.
The lexical level of stylistics deals with the meaning of the word and their enhancement of the context and the phonological level
dissect and distinguish the different sounds produced at the time of articulation. “Japanese River Tales”, “Creation of Fishes”, “In
the Dark Violin of the Valley”, “Performance”, and “The Morning before Christmas” are the select poems for the stylistics
exploration.

Keywords: lexical, phonological, hyperbole, oxymoron, alliteration, assonance and consonance.

1. Introduction River Tales” (36, 37). The talons of the sea bird are impossible
Stylistics is defined as the study and interpretation of texts with to be enlarged but the poet asserts it as possible to add beauty
respect to their linguistic and tonal style. Stylistics is a branch to the context. The poetic line also marks the overstatement
of linguistics which primarily concerns for the different features used by the poet. The poetic work, “In the Dark Violin
choices, words, structures and ordering of sentences in a piece of the Valley” highlights the presence of hyperbole in “All the
of writing. As a discipline of linguistics it is treated equally to dead singing in the river / and the hills unconscious with
literary criticism. Henry Widdowson, an authority in the field listening” (19, 21); both the lines encompasses the hyperbolic
of applied linguistics and language teaching, suggests stylistics features. It is incredible to imagine a dead one singing and the
as the study of literary discourse from linguistic orientation, hills becoming unconscious by listening to music. But Ted
and he has also professed that stylistics occupies the middle Hughes has made the idea simple by employing hyperbole in
place between linguistics and literary criticism. Banjo (1982) the context. It has strengthened the style and technique of the
holds the view that stylistics is "the exhaustive study of the role poet.
of language in literary works ". Peter Barry has penned In “Creation of Fishes” the poet has constructed several
“stylisticians suggest new interpretation of literary works based conversational exchanges between the Sun and the Moon, and
on linguistic evidences” (210). in vice-versa. The poem fantastically portrays the Sun, the
Lexical and phonological are some of two levels in stylistic Moon and their huge families with regard to their unique
analysis which interpret a literary text from a logical features. The poetic lines, “The raving Sun fished up his
perspective. In lexical level, the words of the literary text is loveliest daughter / He fished up his fieriest son who leaped
explored, similarly, in the phonological level, the literary text is /He fished up his quickest, youngest daughter - ” “Creation of
dissected to distinguish the articulating sounds. Ted Hughes, a Fishes” (20, 23, 25) have brighten the hyperbolic idea. The
prolific and versatile British writer of 20th century, has poet says that the Sun fishes his loveliest daughter and fieriest
composed numerous poems and has been hailed as the poet son whom he has drowned in the river already as per the
laureate. He has distinctly styled his poetry and they support in suggestion of the subtle Moon. It is impossible to witness such
esteem stylistic interpretation. scenery in the reality but he has used his imaginative faculty to
bring out his hyperbolic thought. By this the stylistic device,
2. Lexical - First Level of Stylistic Analysis hyperbole makes explicit, the power of imagination is essential
2.1. Hyperbole to create hyperbole.
Hyperbole is a prevalent stylistic device in Hughes’
composition. Hyperbole is defined as the exaggeration of facts, 2.2. Oxymoron
in addition, it is supposed to be either for serious or ironic or As a stylistic device, oxymoron is used to enlighten the style
comic effect. In rhetoric, hyperbole is often called as auxesis, and texture of the literary work. Two contradicting ideas are
which is often used in poetry and oratory. It functions to evoke put together to create an effect and it is defined as oxymoron.
intense feelings and induces firm impression: as a rhetorical In general, oxymoron is structured as having an adjective
device, it does not help to mean literally. which is followed by a noun to provide a coupled idea. The
“Japanese River Tales” portrays a gull with a feminine function of oxymoron can be traced in all the genres of
splendour. The poet pens that the talons of the bird have been literature but its function in poetry gains special mention
lengthened by moonlight and the followings lines validate it: because of its beautifying effect.
“Her talons / Lengthened by moonlight, numb open” “Japanese

59 
 
The poetic work, “Performance” portrays a damselfly, an appears nearby near to give a repeating sound and thus it
insect, in a feminine narration and her splendour becomes produces a rhyming tone to embellish the context. Likewise,
transparent in the poet’s description. The poet explicates that the poetic line “In her hair, in her ears, at her bare throat”
the damselfly appears with a “... inaudible shriek” “Japanese River Tales” (10) marks the consonant sound /h/ as
“Performance” (2) which marks the presence of oxymoron. alliteration. The poem picturizes the manner that snow covers
The words, ‘inaudible’ and ‘shriek’ are coupled to form the bird gradually and steadily. It covers her hair first, then her
oxymoron and they are marked as the best paradigm of ears and then her throat. Reoccurrence of the consonant sound
oxymoron in Hughes’ composition. Oxford Advanced /t/ is apparent in “Grips through the full throat and locks”
Learner’s Dictionary defines ‘inaudible’ as that you cannot “Japanese River Tales” (34) and it gives a rhyming tone to the
hear and ‘shriek’ as a loud high shout, on comparison the poetic line.
synonyms of both the words contradict each other and hence The poetic work, “In the Dark Violin of the Valley” deals with
they are labelled as oxymoron. Furthermore, the poet divulges a music that is being played all the night, in addition, he has
the beauty of the damselfly as a Dracula beauty in “Eyelash- employed alliteration to produce a rhyming tone: “And soul
delicate, Dracula beauty” “Performance” (6). The poetic line together, and sewing soul” “In the Dark violin of the Valley”
indicates ‘Dracula beauty’ as oxymoron in the context because (3) marks /s/ as the reoccurring consonant sound of the context.
‘Dracula’ is a character in many horror films who is a vampire In “Performance” the consonant sound /s/ repeats thrice in
and vampires appear at night and suck the blood of their different contexts and designate it as a paradigm of alliteration.
victims but whereas ‘beauty’ is the quality of being pleasing to The poem portrays a Damselfly and also trees, his description
the sense or to the mind. By juxtaposing the meaning of both of trees highlight the function of alliteration. “Late August.
the words, it is vivid that the words act as oxymoron in the Some sycamore leaves” “Performance” (9) underlines the
context to add beauty to the poetic language. repeated consonant sound /s/ in the word ‘some’ and
In “The Morning before Christmas”, the poet describe a fluvial ‘sycamore’. ‘Some’ acts as an adjective in Hughes’ usage and
landscape and varieties of fish: “A little is plenty. He goes back rhymes with the word ‘sycamore’, a European tree of maple
in the net” “The Morning before Christmas” (44) emphasizes family. Similarly, the poetic lines, “So sulphurous and so frail,
the presence of oxymoron. The context portrays sensory / Stepping so magnetically to her doom!” “Performance” (25,
scenery of fish-mating and getting back to the position. It 26) bring the function of alliteration to light by differentiating
describes that a little sperm is plenty and the poetic lines the repeated consonant sound /s/. Both the poetic lines begin
apparently validate the function of oxymoron. The quantifier, with the sound /s/ and also followed by the same consonant
‘a little’ contradicts the synonym of ‘plenty’ therefore, it acts sound.
as an oxymoron in the context. By portraying the beautiful scene that the poet has witnessed,
The poem, “Creation of Fishes” vividly projects the the poetic work, “The Morning before Christmas” emphasizes
conversations between the Earth and the Moon, in addition, to alliteration in several places. “Great, lolling lilies of fungus,
the description of their magnificent appearance and the alluring irreplaceable” “The Morning before Christmas” (16) marks the
pictures of their children. The Moon, in her conversation with consonant sound /l/ repeated twice in the line to reinforce the
the Sun, tells that their children are too much, and in their stress. The poem pictures an aesthetic scene of lolling lilies and
flame-beauty they are too intolerably beautiful. The poetic line, the word, ‘lolling’ acts as an adjective to ‘lilies’. Oxford
“They are too intolerably beautiful” “Creation of Fishes” (11) Advanced Leaner’s Dictionary explicates lolling as to lie or
throws light on oxymoron and its function. According to stand or sit in a lazy or relaxed way. In “Rough grip and her
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the word, ‘intolerable’ head in an armpit”, “The Morning before Christmas” (24) the
means so bad or difficult that you cannot tolerate it; completely repetitive consonant sound /h/ is explicit. The line explicates a
unacceptable, but the word, ‘beauty’ has the meaning as the hen fish which has got a feminine description by the poet and
quantity of being pleasing to the senses or to the mind. alliteration occurs in the description of the hen fish. The line
Comparatively, both the words give contradicting synonyms to “Squirt in a liquid loosening – spatter” “the Morning before
the usage and prove themselves as oxymoron. Christmas” (29) emphasizes /l/ as alliteration and the rhyming
sound delivers stressing tone to the content. Similarly,
3. Phonology - Second Level of Stylistic Analysis “Brindled black and crimson ...” “The Morning before
3.1. Alliteration Christmas” (40) denotes the consonant sound /b/ is being
The term alliteration was derived from the Latin word, repeated to describe the idea of the poet. He illustrates a cock
‘Latira’ which means ‘letters of alphabet’. It has a critical role and it has tended him to employ alliteration to make the
in literature and, especially, in the genre of poetry because it context more effective in its articulation. Continuously, the
renders musical rhythms and thus makes reading more poet employs alliteration in his poetic works and the line “Four
appealing and absorbing. M. H. Abrams explicates alliteration fish only, forty-odd thousand eggs” “The Morning before
in his A Glossary to Literary Terms as “the repetition of speech Christmas” (50) denotes the repeated consonant sound /f/
sounds in a sequence of nearby words; the term is usually which produces a rhyming stress and beautifies the utterance.
applied only to consonants, and only when the recurrent sound The poet discloses the availability of total numbers of fish and
occurs in a conspicuous position at the beginning of a word or the number of eggs they lay. The sound /f/ repeats at the
a stressed syllable within a word” (17). The alliteration merely beginning of the line and marks the beauty of the rhyming
serves to connect the words together at the level of sounds. stress. The poetic lines, “In natural times, those six, with make
The poetic line “At her hair, at her raiment” “Japanese River nine, / in five years, with great luck, might make nine.” “The
Tales” (5) describes a bird in a feminine tone and underlines Morning before Christmas” (59, 60) highlight the repeatedly
the recurring letter ‘h’ as alliteration. The consonant sound /h/ stressed sounds; the former line marks the sound /t/ as
repeats thrice in the line but the words ‘her and ‘hair’ only alliteration and the latter one highlights /m/ as a repeating
60 
 
consonant sound. Both /t/ and /m/ have functioned as underlines the presence of vowel sound /i/. Likewise, the word,
alliteration during the illustration of fish and their reproduction. ‘socket’ does not explicit the presence of vowel sound /i/ but
In the poetic work, “Creation of Fishes”, it is challenging to the phonetic transcription of the word /sᴐkit/ makes it
identify the function of the stylistic device, alliteration but still transparent. The vowel /i/ is repeatedly found in the poem for
the consonant sound /h/ is explicit in “In agony from his hands, multiple times.
and plunged under.” “Creation of Fishes” (24). Locating any other vowel sound in “Japanese River Tales” is
challenging but it is tediously possible. “Lengthened by
3.2. Assonance moonlight, numb open” “Japanese River Tales” (37) covertly
Assonance is a stylistic device, defined as the repetition of the sounds the vowel sound /ә/. The line depicts the way the talons
similar vowel sound in two or more words of a poetic line. It of the bird is enlarged. The word, ‘lengthened’ is phonetically
reinforces the meaning of the words because the meanings of transcribed as /leᾑөənd/ and ‘open’ is transcribed as /əᴜpәn/; a
the words are more important. Often, most of the poets employ comparative perception throws light on the similar vowel
assonance in their works sparingly and apparently. Being a sound /ә/. “Japanese River Tales” ends by identifying the
prolific poet Ted Hughes has used assonance in many of his vowel sound /i/ as assonance, and depicting that the sea bird
poetic works and it has nurtured the texture of his poetry. flying above by spilling glitters from her grasp. The vowel
“Japanese River Tales” carry assonance in several lines and the sound /i/ appears twice in “A spill of glitters” “Japanese River
close similarity between them is the reoccurrence of the vowel Tales” (39) and it is apparent in ‘spill’ and ‘glitters’; in
/i/ in multiple contexts to complement the aesthetic appeal. The addition, it enhances the rhyming tone present in between
following extract is a quintessence of the reappearance of the them.
vowel sound /i/ as assonance: “In the Dark Violin of the Valley” is rich in assonance and
Into his grasping bed. beautifully describes the music that echoed to the ears of the
The lithe river rejoices all morning poet. Phonetically the word ‘soul’ and ‘sew’ have similar
In his juicy bride-the snow princess vowel sound /əu/ and they rhyme with each other: “And soul
Who peeped from clouds, and chose him, and together, and sewing soul” “In the Dark Violin of the Valley”
descended (3). In “And sky together and sky and earth” “In the Dark
“Japanese River Tales” (17-20) Violin of the Valley” (4) the word ‘sky’ appears twice and they
‘Into his grasping’ identify the presence of /i/ thrice and they produce same vowel sound /ai/ to rhyme in their context. The
produced a sort of rhyming sound. The repetition found in the vowel /i/ is marked in “Together and sewing the river to the
context has increased the beauty of the stress and the poet has sea” “In the Dark Violin of the Valley” (5). In ‘sewing’ and
dexterously composed the poem. The line “The lithe river ‘river’, the vowel /i/ is identified and highlighted as assonance.
rejoices all morning” “Japanese River Tales” (18) marks the The vowel sound /i/ is commonly marked in Ted Hughes’
function of assonance in three words: ‘river’, rejoice’ and poetry as assonance and it is underlined in multiple places of
‘morning’. The vowel sound /i/ has been repeated to produce a the poetic work, “In the Dark Violin of the Valley”. The poetic
rhyming sound in the line. Besides, presence of /i/ as assonance line, “A lancing, fathoming music” “In the Dark Violin of the
is apparent in “In his juicy bride-the snow princess / who Valley” (7) brightens the presence of sound /i/ in the three
peeped from clouds, and chose him, and descended” “Japanese words, almost toward the end of the respective words. The
River Tales” (17-20); they highlight the similar rhyming sound. repetition of the vowel sound /i/ continuously in ‘lancing’,
The bard evinces his aesthetic feel by versifying that the river ‘fathoming’, and ‘music’ denote that the rhyming tone
rejoices all the morning and this has led him to employ beautifies the context. The poet describes a lingering music that
assonance in the context. echoes in his ears; he says that the music comes and goes but it
Similarly, “With glittery laughter of immortals” “Japanese is a sharp music that has entertained him aesthetically. In “A
River Tales” (22) underlines the formation of repeated vowel coming and going music” “In the Dark Violin of the Valley”
sound /i/. The poet depicts the glittery laughter of the (12) the vowel sound /i/ is found in ‘coming’, ‘going’ and
immortals which unfolds his aesthetic perception of nature and ‘music’ and it has upgraded the articulation. “Hunched over its
to unveil it in his poetic language he has employed assonance. river, the night attentive” “In the Dark Violin of the Valley”
The vowel sound /i/ reoccurs in the context to upgrade the (16) marks the reoccurrence of /i/ sound thrice in the context.
texture and articulation of the lines “Lifts off the illusions. Lifts The following poetic lines justify that the vowel sound /i/
/ The beauty from her skull. The socket, in fact,” “Japanese reoccurs multiple times in the poetic work:
River Tales” (30, 31). They brighten the function of the vowel
sound /i/ as assonance at multiples times and it also displays Crying a violin in a grave
the presence of aesthetic tone. The poet has employed All the dead singing in the river
assonance in his description of a sea bird with much aesthetic The river throbbing, the river the aorta
fragrance. The vowel /i/ appears in the words ‘lift’, and And the hills unconscious with listening.
‘illusion’, and also in the repeated word ‘lift’ in the poetic line, “In the Dark Violin of the Valley” (18-21)
“Lift off the illusions. Lifts” “Japanese River Tales” (30). The
line “The beauty from her skull. The sockets, in fact” The vowel sound /i/ is located in ‘crying’, ‘violin’, and ‘in’ of
“Japanese River Tales” (31) extraordinarily signify the the line “Crying a violin in a grave” “In the Dark Violin of the
retaining vowel sound /i/. The vowel sound /i/ which plays the Valley” (18). This proves that repetition of the vowel sound
role as assonance is highlighted in the words, ‘beauty’. beautifies poetic line. The poet passionately says that the dead
Although the word ‘beauty’ does not display the vowel sound is singing in the river, and it marks the repeated vowel sound /i/
/i/ explicitly, it is vindicated that beauty retains the vowel in the poetic line “All the dead singing in the river” “In the
sound /i/. Phonetically, ‘beauty’ is transcribed as /bju:ti/ and it Dark Violin of the Valley” (18). Similarly, /i/ is identified in
61 
 
‘river’, ‘throbbing’, and ‘river’ of the line “The river throbbing, highlights /i/ in ‘with’, ‘everything’, and ‘standstill’, and
the river the aorta” “In the Dark Violin of the Valley” (20) to evidences the reoccurring function of assonance. It depicts a
add the beauty of the utterance. The presence of the vowel frosty day in the poetic work which raises the aesthetic feel in
sound /i/ is marked four times in the poetic line “And the hills both the content as well as the form. “Wheel-ruts frost-fixed.
unconscious with listening.” “In the Dark Violin of the Valley” Mid-morning, slowly” “The Morning Before Christmas” (5)
(21). The repetition of the single vowel sound in the poetic line locates vowel sound /i/ in ‘fixed’, ‘mid-morning’ and ‘slowly’;
has contributed to the articulation of the rhyming tone. The line this proves the perceptual function of assonance in the context.
“Bowed over its valley, the river” “In the Dark Violin of the Although the word ‘slowly’ does not make explicit the sound
Valley” (17) denotes the appearance of vowel sound /ә/ in /i/, the sound is identified as latent in the context. However, the
‘over’ and ‘river’. The vowel /ә/ sounds gently in the context repetition of the vowel sound enhances the stress produced
to form a pleasant rhyming tone. The poet has surprisingly during articulation. “Across the fields of hoar. And the river
employed /ai/ as assonance in “Crying a violin in a grave” “In steamed -” “The Morning before Christmas” (7) throws light
the Dark Violin of the Valley” (18). And the poet describes the on the vowel sound /i: / in ‘steamed’ and ‘fields’, and /ә/ in
music which explicates the aesthetic scenery that has appeared ‘across’ and ‘river’ which beautifies the context. The following
to him and to describe it, he has made use of the stylistic lines of the poem disclose the multiple function of assonance
device, assonance. which is identified in regard to explicating the fish and the
“Performance” of Ted Hughes is embellished with assonance river in a merry mood:
in multiple contexts. The vowel /i/ is marked in “Eyelash-
delicate, a Dracula beauty” “Performance” (6) at two stresses. By the salmon-ladder at the weir- [/æ/]
“In her acetylene jewel.” “Performance” (7) marks the vowel The sluice cut, the board exit lifted- [/i/]
sound /ә/ continuingly towards the words ‘acetylene’ and The cage drained slowly. A dead cock fish [/ei/, /i/]
‘jewel’. Similarly, the vowel sound /ᴐ/ is identified in ‘Robin’, Hung its head into the -leaf-dregs. Another [/i/, /e/]
‘song’ and ‘bronze’ of the line “Robin song bronze-touching Sunk on its side, seemed to pincer-lock [/ᴐ/, /i/]
the stillness” “Performance” (10). Vowel sound /ᴐ/ frequently The cage wire with its kipe. Already [/i/]
appears in the context and provides similar stressing tone by They were slinging the dead out, rigid in the net,
which the aesthetic appeal of the language is upgraded. The [/i/, /e/]
vowel sound /i/ is identified continually in two lines: “Still in Great, lolling lilies of fungus, irreplaceable- [/i/]
mid-passion- / Still in her miracle play:” “Performance” (16, Eggs rotten in them, milt rotten. Nothing [/ᴐ/, /i/]
17) and enhances the pronunciation by rendering a tone of So raggy dead offal as a dead [/e/]
rhyme. The poet has employed a new vowel sound in “Masked, Salmon in its wedding finery. So [/i/]
archaic, mute, insect mystery” “Performance” (18): ‘masked’ After their freakish luck in the lottery [/i/]
and ‘archaic’ of the poetic line has located the vowel sound “The Morning before Christmas” (9-20)
/a:/; the vowel sound falls after the /m/ consonant sound of
‘masked’ and at the beginning of ‘archaic’. The extract validates that assonance continually functions
The line “Everything is forgiven” “Performance” (20) lights through multiple vowel sounds in order to embellish the stress
the presence of /i/ in the each word of the context and stresses of the context. The vowel sound appears to be predominating
an aesthetic tone. The words, ‘Stepping’ and ‘magnetically’ in the poetic lines and produce a sleek flow of articulation to
marks the existence of /i/ in the contexts: “Stepping so form an identical stress. “By the salmon-ladder at the weir-”
magnetically to her doom!” “Performance” (26). Ted Hughes “The Morning before Christmas” (9) marks the vowel sound
beautifies the damselfly in the context, simultaneously which /æ/ twice and “The sluice cut, the board exit lifted-” “The
reflects his vigilance through his styled poetic language. It is Morning before Christmas” (10) highlights /i/ twice and thus
obvious, the poet has used /i/ as assonance in most of his the repetitions grant an aesthetic tone to the language. “The
contexts and it is validated through marking it in “Dripping the cage drained slowly. A dead cock fish” The Morning before
sun’s incandescence-” “Performance” (28). It is challenging to Christmas” (11) brightens the function of a diphthong /ei/ and a
mark different and new vowel sounds in Ted Hughes’ poems, monophthong /i/. The vowel sound /ᴐ/ and /i/ are identified in
in this connection the vowel sounds /ʌ/, /e/ and /ᴐ:/ are “Sunk on its side, seemed to pincer-lock” / Eggs rotten in them,
identified in “A touch-crumple petal a web and dew-” milt rotten. Nothing” “The Morning before Christmas” (13,
“Performance” (32): the vowel /ʌ/ and /e/ in the line are 17). Both the poetic lines highlight /ᴐ/ and /i/ in their contexts
explicit. The hyphenated word ‘touch’-crumple’ underlines /ʌ/ and they embellish the stress. Correspondingly, /i/ and /e/ are
and ‘petal’ and ‘web’ mark the vowel sound /e/ to produce a found in “Hung its head into the -leaf-dregs. Another / They
similar stress. The line “midget puppet-clown, tranced on his were slinging the dead out, rigid in the net,” “The Morning
strings,” “Performance” (33) indicates the function of /i/ in five before Christmas” (12, 15); the presence of dual vowels in both
places: ‘midget’, ‘puppet-clown’, ‘his’ and ‘strings’. Likewise, the lines have increased the texture and display the dexterity of
/ᴐ:/ is identified in the poetic line “In the night fall pall of the poet.
balsam” “Performance” (34). The poem delineates the function “The Morning before Christmas” emphasizes the incessant
of reoccurring vowel sounds those appear repeatedly to form a appearance of assonance with multiple vowel sounds. The
long stressing tone which obviously entertains the readers and following lines underline the predominating vowel sound /i/:
the listeners. Then a hen fish – ten pounds –lurching alive. [/e/, /i/]
“The Morning before Christmas” is embellished by assonance Rough grip and her head in an armpit. [/i/]
to render an aesthetic fragrance and the line “Buds fur-gloved Now the thumb and finger kneading her belly. [/i/]
with frost. Everything has come to a standstill” “The Morning The frost-smoking sun embellishes her beauty, [/i/]
before Christmas” (1) underlines the vowel sound /ʌ/. It also “The Morning before Christmas” (23-26)
62 
 
All the lines posses /i/ as assonance but “Then a hen fish – ten held the moment of a fox” “The Morning before Christmas”
pounds –lurching alive.” “The Morning before Christmas” (23) (73). The poetic line emphasizes the vowel that reappears to
takes /e/ in addition to /i/. The poet portrays a hen fish in the render the same vowel stress and enhance the texture of the
context with a feminine narration and he has embellished both poetic work.
the context as well as the form with his dazzling ability of his Poetic language of “Creation of Fishes” is embellished by
composition. The line “Oily massage – again and again. Then assonance and the idea is nurtured by personification. “Sun
the fish” “The Morning before Christmas” (31) highlights the burned among his burning brood” “Creation of Fishes” (2)
reoccurring vowel sound /ə/ at the beginning of ‘again’ and underlines three repetitive vowel sounds: /ʌ/, /ɜ:/ and /i/, the
‘and’ furthermore, the poet has used ‘again’ twice in the poetic vowel sounds repeated in the line to render an aesthetic stress
line to lay much stress and thus it enhances the stress of the at the time of articulation. The vowel sound /i/ and /ai/ are
line. The vowel /e/ is located thrice in “Feathering along her marked in “The souls of earthlings tried to hide in the sea”
flank sets the eggs spurting -” “The Morning before Christmas” “Creation of Fishes” (7). The poet constructs a few
(35). The vowel sound /ai/ is found in “She tries to writhe and conversations between the Sun and the Moon to give a pleasant
shiver a real meaning” “The Morning before Christmas” (36) and imaginary appeal. “Said Moon to Sun: “Our children are
and it truly marks the repetitive vowel sound and enhance the too much” “Creation of Fishes” (9) marks the vowel /ʌ/ in
context. ‘sun’ and much’, correspondingly, “They are too intolerably
The poetic line “A little is plenty. He goes back into the net” beautiful” “Creation of Fishes” (11) underlines the repeated
“The Morning before Christmas” (44) underlines /i/ in ‘little’, vowel /i/ in ‘intolerably’ and ‘beautiful’. The poet makes
‘is’, ‘plenty’ and ‘into’, in addition, the line also encompasses impossibilities to possible by using the power of imagination
another vowel sound /e/ in ‘plenty; and ‘net’. The vowel /i/ is which is a key need for an aesthete. The beauty of the content
always found to be repetitive in Hughes’ composition and is reflected through the poetic language, especially by
“Brindled black and Crimson, with big, precious sports / and employing the stylistic devices.
releases a milk – jet of sperm” “The Morning before The vowel sounds /æ/, /ə/ and /i/ are identified in “Gathered
Christmas” (40, 42) confirm it. The appearance of the vowel their children into a sack, to drown them.” “Creation of Fishes”
sound /i/ is easily noted in ‘brindled’, ‘crimson’, ‘with’, and (14). The Sun is described as noble, thus, it influences the
‘big’; thus, the reoccurring produce an identical stress. “Then poetic language of the context by making avail of a repetitive
they’re set aside. Another hen-fish” “The Morning before vowel sound /ʌ/ and /i/ in the line “Noble Sun, tear-blind,
Christmas” (48) denotes /e/ as the assonance in ‘then’, ‘set’ and plucked his darlings” “Creation of Fishes” (15). In the
‘hen-fish’. The vowel sound /ᴐ:/ is found in “Four fish only, following line, the bard has employed the vowel sound /i/ and
forty-odd thousands eggs.” “The Morning before Christmas” /ʌ/ as assonance: “The raving Sun fished up his loveliest
(50) and it marked in ‘forty’ and ‘four’ as a stressed sound. daughter” “Creation of Fishes” (20). Repetition of the vowel
The poet has employed /ai/ and /i/ as assonance in “In five sounds /i/ and /ʌ/ has improved the rhyming stress of the
year, with great luck, might make nine” “The Morning before context and it gives a delightful tone. In the lines, “He fished
Christmas” (60). The words, ‘five’, ‘might’ and ‘nine’ possess up his quickest, youngest daughter - / smiling, the Moon hid.”
the vowel /ai/ and ‘in’ and ‘with’ retain the vowel /i/. It is “Creation of Fishes” (25, 30) the vowel /i/ is recurrent. The
evident that Ted Hughes has employed the vowel sound /i/ as a highlighted repetitive vowel /i/ has indirectly upgraded the tone
predominating quintessence of assonance and the following of articulation. This shows that the poet has used assonance to
poetic lines exclusively highlight the persistence and function an esteem degree.
of the vowel sound /i/:
3.3. Consonance
That’s how for kitchen plastic bowls The stylistic device, consonance is explicated as the repetition
........................................................... of the same consonant sound found before and after the
Precarious obstetrics. First, the eggs clot, dissimilar vowel in two words of a line. For instance, ‘live’ and
Then loosen. Then, lovingly, the rinsings, ‘love’ are transcribed as /liv/ and /lʌv/, and differentiated by
The lavings, the drainings, the rewashing- the functions of the dissimilar vowel sounds and identified by
“The Morning before Christmas” (61, 63-65) the appearance of the identical consonant sounds. In concise,
consonance has a dissimilar vowel bound by two similar
The words such as ‘Kitchen’, ‘plastic’, ‘Precarious’, consonant sounds. Consonance is generally employed in the
‘obstetrics’, ‘lovingly’, ‘rinsings’, ‘lavings’, ‘drainings’, and poetic composition, in order to provide a structure to poetry
‘rewashing’ of the poetic lines indicate the function of vowel /i/ with a rhyming effect. The poet employs the device to reflect
to raise the stress of the words as well as to produce the the emotions hidden behind the words that the common words
echoing tone while utterance. The vowel /e/ is marked in cannot express. Furthermore, consonance makes the structure
“Precarious obstetric. First, the eggs clot, / wrought in wet, of poetry much appealing and stimulates the lyrical tone of
heavy gold. Treasure-solid. / Dazzle-stamped every cell in my poetry.
body” “The Morning before Christmas” (63, 69, 71). The Identifying consonance is hard challenging in Ted Hughes’
vowel sound /e/ appears recurrently in the lines, and produce a selected River poems. However, it is identified in two poetic
similar stress and it enhances the language of the context. works: “Japanese River Tales” and “Creation of Fishes”. The
Similarly, the poetic line “With its melting edge, its lime-bitter former one portrays a sea bird and grants an aesthetic feminine
brightness.” “The Morning before Christmas” (72) underlines illustration Employing consonance has brought a rhyming tune
the vowel /i/, /e/ and /ai/; they repeat in the poetic line to in the context and the line “At her hair, at her raiment”
produce an identical stress. The vowel sound /ᴐ/ is explicit in “Japanese River Tales” (5) brightens the function of
‘pond’ and ‘fox’ of the poetic line, “A flood pond, inch-iced, consonance. The words ‘her’ and ‘hair’ are the paradigms of
63 
 
consonance. According to Oxford Advanced Leaner’s 6. Choudhary Hira Lal. UGC-NET/JEF/SET English
Dictionary, the pronoun, ‘her’ is phonetically transcribed as Literature. Agra: Upkar, 2013. Print.
/hә(r)/ and the noun, ‘hair’ is transcribed as /heә(r)/. In the 7. Harris A. eds. A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices.
phonetic transcription of both the words, the consonant sound Virtualsalt, 2013.
/r/ is bracketed to emphasize it as an optional stress. The words 8. Hughes Ted. River. London: Faber and Faber, 2011. Print.
‘her’ and ‘hair’ begin with the same consonant sound /h/ and 9. Jeyalakshmi G. Practical Criticism. Madurai: Vimala,
end with the same consonant sound /r/. The consonants appear 2004. Print.
similar and have enhanced the stress of the words. 10. Peck John, Martin Coyle. Literary Terms and Criticism.
The poetic work “Creation of Fishes” also marks the presence England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Print.
of consonance with regard to its function. The poem picturizes
the conversation between the Sun and the Moon and
illuminates the tone of the subject as well as the language. The
poetic line “But her spasmed, and stiffened, in a torture of
colours.” “Creation of Fishes” (24) reveals the personified
Moon and her mood. And it is apparent that the poet has
employed consonance in the line and they are ‘spasmed’ and
‘stiffened’. The word, ‘spasmed’ is phonetically transcribed as
/spæzәmd/ and the word, ‘stiffened’ is transcribed as /stifnd/.
Both the words highlight /s/ as an identical consonant at the
beginning and /d/ at the end of the words and they also
emphasize the unlike vowel sound. Dissimilar vowel sounds of
both the words are /æ/ and /i/. The similarities in their function
have enabled to produce same consonant stresses.

4. Conclusion
Lexical and phonological analyses of Hughes’ poems throw
light on his style of employing words in a connective order.
The select poems: “Japanese River Tales”, “Creation of
Fishes”, “In the Dark Violin of the Valley”, “Performance”,
and “The Morning before Christmas” have exhibited the
presence, absence and functions of hyperbole, oxymoron,
alliteration, assonance and consonance. The analytical analysis
illustrates that in lexical level, “Japanese River Tales”, “In the
Dark Violin of the Valley” and “Creation of Fishes” take
hyperbole, and “Creation of Fishes”, “Performance”, and “The
Morning before Christmas” take oxymoron. Similarly, in
phonological level, alliteration and assonance are identified in
“Japanese River Tales”, “Creation of Fishes”, “In the Dark
Violin of the Valley”, “Performance”, and “The Morning
before Christmas”, and consonance is specified in “Japanese
River Tales” and “Creation of Fishes”. It is explicit that in
phonological level alliteration and assonance are stressed in the
entire five select poem but whereas in lexical level, hyperbole
and oxymoron are used to a minimal extent. Therefore, it can
be concluded that Hughes has made avail of alliteration and
assonance to an esteem degree.

5. References
1. Abrams MH. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Bangalore:
Prism, 1999. Print.
2. Ali Abdul. Stylistics Analysis of I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Galaxy: An International
Multidisciplinary Research journal. 2016.
3. Ashraf Ayesha. Representation of Death in Poems of
Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost: A Stylistic Analysis
Because I Could not Stop for Death. American
International Journal of Contemporary Research. 2015.
4. Barr, Peter. Beginning Theory. Chennai: T. R.
Publications, 1999. Print.
5. Bassnett Susan. Ted Hughes. New Delhi: Atlantic, 2009.
Print.

64