Syntax in Poetry a Linguistic Study on Literature (TIDAK ADA STOK)

Syntax in Poetry has been new method in understanding literary works especially poems through linguistic approach. Poetry, for sure, is different from the other literary works of its specific forms which are constructed from beautiful words throughout its stanzas. The linguistic study which includes syntax, phonology, and semantics give significant contribution to understanding the poems. And in this book, the analysis is done to explore the poems of William Butler Yeats. First, syntactically Yeats uses good sentence construction, the so called “well-formed”. The relation between Noun Phrase (NP) and Verb Phrase (VP) can be used to understand the poems. In some stanzas of Yeats’ poems, active verbs play important roles in describing the action of rape, and passive verbs show the victim of the rape (in “Leda and the Swan”). Parallelism in syntax and semantics give great literary quality to the poem. Second, phonologically the relation between sound and meaning represent the strength of Yeats’ poems, in which the diphthong sound can represent meaning (in the first poem, “Sailing to Byzantium”), and the use of pleasing sound (euphony) represent the peaceful life (in the third poem, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”). On the other hand, harsh sound effects (cacophony) are represented by busy sounds to show the action of rape (in the second poem, “Leda and the Swan”). Third, semantically, the meanings of the poems are wonderfully described by Yeats throughout the symbols he uses. To alternate understanding of these poems it is proven obvious that Yeats’ poems are concerned with life cycle. There are some stages in life a man should pass all the way through like “gyre” that always rotates: a man was born and he is growing adult. As time runs, he is becoming old and at last he will come into his death. Yeats also describes that tragedy will always happen to human life. By using Greek mythology, Yeats describes the rape towards Leda and Agamemnon murder may happen along history. In the last analysis of this book it shows that Yeats’ poems are great by showing that the highest value of human life is truth by doing spiritual release which in my old Javanese term is “moksa” which depicted in his final line of his one-stanza poem, “Now I may wither into the truth”.