Stylistic analysis of Ray Bradbery`s poem "They have not seen the stars"

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Oles Honchar Dnipro National University

STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF RAY BRADBERY'S POEM `THEY HAVE NOT SEEN THE STARS'

O. Budilova, M. Volkova

Анотація

О. В. Буділова, М. Ю. Волкова Дніпровський національний університет імені Олеся Гончара

СТИЛІСТИЧНИЙ АНАЛІЗ ВІРША Р.БРЕДБЕРІ «THEY HAVE NOT SEEN THE STARS»

В статті розглядаються твори Рея Бредбері останніх років, які й досі залишаються поза дослідницькою увагою фахівців сьогодення. На підставі аналізу наукових праць зарубіжних і вітчизняних літературознавців виявлено аспекти творчості Рея Бредбері, які потребують вивчення. Актуальність обраної теми зумовлена наявністю в сучасному літературознавстві лише загального або оглядового аналізу творчого надбання зазначеного письменника. Стилістичний аналіз його поезій практично відсутній, українською мовою було перекладено лише обрані поетичні твори. Сучасні науковці займаються вивченням окремо узятих аспектів його творчості. Стилістичний аналіз поезій Р. Бредбері, нажаль, відсутній зовсім, зокрема тих поезій, які були обрані для аналізу в даній статті. Нами було здійснено спробу надати комплексний аналіз окремих поезій автора, на основі яких можна скласти узагальнену картину щодо стилістичних особливостей його творчості, індивідуальної манери та стилю Рея Бредбері.

Ключові слова: поезія, стилістичний аналіз, стилістичні засоби, ідіостиль.

Аннотация

А. В. Будилова, М. Ю. Волкова Днепровский национальный университет имени Олеся Гончара

СТИЛИСТИЧЕСКИЙ АНАЛИЗ СТИХОТВОРЕНИЯ Р.БРЕДБЕРІ «THEY HAVE NOT SEEN THE STARS»

В статье рассматриваются произведения Рэя Брэдбери последних лет, которые и по сей день остаются за пределами исследовательского внимания современных специалистов. На основании анализа научных работ зарубежных и отечественных литературоведов выявлены аспекты творчества Рэя Брэдбери, требующие изучения. Актуальность выбранной темы обусловлена наличием в современном литературоведении только общего или обзорного анализа творческого наследия упомянутого писателя. Стилистический анализ его поэзий практически отсутствует, на украинский язык были переведены лишь избранные поэтические произведения. Современные ученые занимаются изучением отдельно взятых аспектов его творчества. Стилистический анализ поэзий Р. Брэдбери, к сожалению, полностью отсутствует, в частности, тех поэзий, которые были выбраны для анализа в данной статье. Ми предприняли попытку предложить комплексный анализ отдельных поэзий автора, на основании которых можно сложить обобщенное представление о стилистических особенностях его творчества, индивидуальной манеры и стиля Рэя Брэдбери.

Ключевые слова: поэзия, стилистический анализ, стилистические средства, идиостиль.

Abstract

The article focuses on Ray Bradbury's most recent works that have so far been neglected by contemporary scholars. Having analyzed academic works by overseas and domestic specialists, we have identified the aspects of Ray Bradbury's literary art that require investigation. The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that contemporary literary studies only offer a very general description or an overview of the literary legacy of the aforementioned writer. The stylistic analysis of his poetry is almost unavailable, and only separate poetic works have been translated into Ukrainian. Modern scholars focus on particular aspects of his art. Unfortunately, there is almost no stylistic analysis of R. Bradbury's poetic works, particularly those poetic works that have been chosen for analysis in this article. We have attempted to offer a comprehensive analysis the author's separate poetic works which will make it possible to build a general idea of the stylistic peculiarities of Ray Bradbury's art as his individual style.

Keywords: poetry, stylistic analysis, stylistic devices, individual style.

The main text

bradbery poem stylistic style

The problem of the unexplored works of art of recent years by Ray Bradbury allows literary critics to interpret his work, deepening existing research on the problems and poetics of the prose heritage of the American science fiction classic of the XX-XXI century. Analyzing Ray Bradbury's work, "scholars rarely decode the writer's intentions by comparing the plot, style, so-called" accessories "of stories characteristic of the author's poetics, with issues, stylistic means, metaphors of other writers." [6, p.114].

Various aspects of Bradbury's work have been studied in the works of foreign critics (F. Dietz, R. Kirk, W. McNally, W. Meyers, D. Mogen, A. J. Staple, Anita T. Sullivan, D. Vet, Gary K. Wolf, Wayne Johnson, J. Frank, H. Tsukaya), as well as Ukrainian and Russian literary critics in articles and monographs (M. Paltsev, V. Varzhapetyan, M. Kiselyova, O. Kabakov, V. Voinovich, O. Romanova, V. Gakov, Yu. Serenkov, Yu. Kankav, M. Kovaleva, Yu. Koratkevich, V. Novikova, O. Artemova).

The novelty of the chosen topic is closely related to its relevance: in modern literary criticism there is only a general or overview analysis of the creative heritage of the writer. Stylistic analysis of his poetry is practically absent, only selected poetic works have been translated into Ukrainian. Modern scholars are studying individual aspects of his work. Stylistic analysis of R. Bradbury's poetry, unfortunately, is completely absent, in particular those poems that were selected for analysis in this work. We have made an attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of individual poems of the author, on the basis of which we can make a generalized picture of the stylistic features of his work, individual style and style of Ray Bradbury.

Researcher J. Jones put R. Bradbury on a par with such science fiction writers of the twentieth century as A. Azimov A.Ch. Clark, R.E. Heinlight, S. Lem. According to him, R. Bradbury was the first author who looked at modern fiction and science as a "bag in which good and bad are mixed." The critic noted the activity of reading the author's books in the modern literary world. Some of his works have even been included in the school literature course in the United States. The researcher noted that R. Bradbury's favorite topic is the future and related fears and hopes. [3].

K. Knight positively outlined the work of R. Bradbury, noting the mixture of science and Christianity in some of his works. The author tried to highlight common features in these areas. The journalist also noted that Bradbury's books will always exist as if "between the future and the past", while remaining "beyond time". In his opinion, the creative heritage of this author in a hundred years will inspire and at the same time frighten people like any good literature. [4].

Ray Bradbury's talent is unusual and multifaceted. In each of his characters, he himself is an old man with a child's soul.

R. Bradbury is one of those writers who in their fiction try to rely on some already developed technical innovations. In his youth he was interested in various exhibitions of technical innovations. In general, Ray Douglas's fiction is intelligent in everything, sometimes it even seems planned. These are the works of a highly educated person who is interested in everything. Not surprisingly, judging by the biographies, the writer never spared energy and time on the spiritual aspects that became important to him, formed the essence of his soul.

Fiction, on the one hand, serves as a writer-philosopher "a kind of means to present a common problem in an unusual perspective, and on the other - substantiating incredible things with the science of the future, it revives these deep thoughts, provides them to a wide readership, stimulates limited, grounded imagination. its desire to comprehend the boundless space around it "[5]. In Bradbury's early works, there is always a theme that runs like a red thread through all his work - the humanistic theme of the struggle between Good and Evil, Light and Darkness.

The writer is deeply concerned about the mechanization and the extraordinary spread of spirituality in modern society, the real danger of a nuclear apocalypse, but he is full of faith in the power of human reason, love and good beginnings in man. "I pass on my love of life to people," Bradbury said in a recent interview. - I teach them to be conscious - that's what love means. You start small, and you arouse very high feelings in people. " This is the creative credo of an outstanding humanist writer.

In many works, Bradbury looks like a passionate "cosmist", a stellar romantic who sees the existing cosmic expansion of humanity as a poetic symbol (the biblical New Coming or the Frontier, taken from American history). This is typical of both Bradbury's short stories and his poetic works, but it should be noted that for some reason he was ashamed of the latter. He published a collection of poems, The Last Time Elephants Bloomed in the Courtyard, at the age of fifty-three.

Ray Bradbury devoted many of his works to fantasy worlds, including unexplored space, as the poet-writer flourished during the period of active exploration of outer space, when people finally managed to get stars, first went into outer space, conducting experimental research in this sphere. Quite often in his works R. Bradbury appears "a passionate" cosmist ", a stellar romantic who perceives the future cosmic expansion of mankind more as a poetic symbol" [2]. At the same time, the future of space exploration can be full of dramatic surprises and tragedies. Thus, the fashion for everything cosmic, fascination with other worlds is reflected in the works of R. Bradbury, in particular his poem "They have not seen the stars". I would like to analyze the originality of this poetic work from the side of the use of linguistic and stylistic devices, which have become a kind of expression of the author's style.

We tried to analyze each part of the poem separately and gradually.

«They have not seen the stars,

Not one, not one

Of all the creatures on this world

In all the ages since the sands

First touched the wind,

Not one, not one,

No beast of all the beasts has stood

On meadowland orplain or hill

And known the thrill of looking at those fires» [1].

The poet repeatedly uses the repetition of the phrase "Not one, not one..." in order to emphasize the fact that the sky, stars, space for a long time were the unattainable goal of all mankind. But this is not the only repetition in the poem. The poet uses the technique of anaphoric repetition (repetition of the beginning of a sentence), which helps to form the rhythm of a poetic work:

«Of all the creatures on this world

In all the ages since the sands» [1].

He uses the metaphor of the duration of this time:

«In all the ages since the sands» [1].

No one could be there until 1962, when Yuri Gagarin first flew. R. Bradbury metaphorically describes the ancient times when sand and wind combined naturally:

«In all the ages since the sands

First touched the wind,..» [1].

The poet also metaphorically compares the stars to the fire that burns in the sky, attracting humanity:

«the thrill of looking at those fires» [1].

In the eighth line, the author uses polysyndeton (repetition of the conjunction "or"), which also helps to form the rhythm of the poem:

«On meadowland orplain or hill» [1 ].

«Our soul admires what they,

Oh, they, have never known.

Five billion years have flown

In turnings of the spheres,

But not once іп all those years

Has lion, dog, or bird that sweeps the air Looked there, oh, look. Looked there.

Ah, God, the stars. Oh, look, there!» [1].

In this part of the poem the poet does not address anyone personally, he only calls all mankind the pronoun "they", which kins people and at the same time depersonalizes them, this is a kind of use of generalization. He repeatedly uses the repetition of this pronoun, ending the previous one and starting the next line with it, using the stylistic means of anadiplosis (or pickup):

«Our soul admires what they,

Oh, they, have never known» [1].

R. Bradbury uses the metaphor of a bird's flight, which seems to "sweep the sky":

«bird that sweeps the air» [1].

Unlike birds, no other creature such as a lion, dog or others can ascend to heaven.

R. Bradbury draws the reader's attention to the sky, using the repetition of a parallel construction with exclamations to add emotion:

«Looked there, oh, look. Looked there.

Ah, God, the stars. Oh, look, there!» [1].

This repetition of the word look in the present and past tense emphasizes the ancient desire of mankind to get the sky, which is now being fulfilled. From time immemorial, mankind has embodied the Lord God with the heavens, recreated in his poem by R. Bradbury.

In the sixth line, he uses the grammatical technique of inversion in order to add emotionality to the expression, creating a kind of sublime atmosphere:

«But think of it, then choose. Now, which?

Born to raw Earth, inhabiting a scene, And all of it no sooner viewed, erased, As if these miracles had never been?

Vast circlings of sounding fire andfrost,

And all when focused, what? as quickly lost?» [1].

In this part of the poem the poet asks questions to the reader. He invites the person personified by his reader to make a choice for himself: to stretch upwards or to lie down in the damp earth. He uses a metaphor when describing the natural cycle of measuring the seasons that move as if in a circle (this is a kind of personification of the circle of life):

«Vast circlings of sounding fire and frost,..» [1].

Describing the warm and cold seasons, he uses the epithet "sounding fire and frost". In the last line, he emphasizes their rapid change - so fast that people often do not even have time to fully feel it. He considers natural phenomena to be a real miracle of our Mother Earth, reflecting on the idea of what could be instead of these miracles:

«As if these miracles had never been?» [1].

The anaphoric repetition of "And all..." again helps to create the rhythm of the poetic work.

«Or us, in fragile flesh, with God's new eyes

That lift and comprehend and search the skies?

We watch the seasons drifting in the lunar tide

And know the years, remembering what's died» [1 ].

Man embodies in this verse "fragile flesh", because his life is quite short. It is only able to monitor the change of seasons that occur according to the laws of nature:

«We watch the seasons drifting in the lunar tide» [1].

The life of a person who will die one day passes quickly with them. But now people look at the sky differently. The metaphor of rising eyes, the search for heaven - this is the embodiment of man's ability to reach outer space.

In this part of the poem, R. Bradbury again uses polysyndeton, using the repetition of the conjunction "and" in order to form a rhythm:

«That lift and comprehend and search the skies?

We watch the seasons drifting in the lunar tide

And know the years, remembering what's died» [1 ].

Summing up the most frequently used stylistic devices in this poem by R. Bradbury, which is a kind of reflection of the individual style of the author, we can mention epithets, metaphors, among grammatical - inversion, parallel constructions, polysyndeton, repetition (anaphora, anadiplosis), among phonetic - alliteration.

A feature of Ray Bradbury's poetic style is the use of simple words, expressions that are understandable to a wide range of readers. Here you can find commonplace. Sentences are not grammatically overloaded. Almost every time they carry certain information or convey emotions, are the embodiment of the author's thoughts. Parallel constructions that are often used, repetitions of individual words, anaphors and the reception of anadiplosis contribute to the lyrical organization of poetry, create a rhyming effect, lead the reader to accept the opinion of R. Bradbury himself, which is expressed through the lexical structure of English.

References

1. Bradbury R. Poems// http://cb-rzhev.blogspot.com/2015/08/blog-post 22.html

2. https: / / j avalibre.com.ua/ j ava-book/ author/bio/5 8.

3. Ray Bradbury, Master of Science Fiction, Dies at 91 // The New York Times.

4. The timeless Ray Bradbury: Our film critic reflects on the late sci-fi author (англ.) //http://nationalpost.com.

5. Волкова М.Ю. Стилістична організація вірша Р. Бредбері «That Is Our Eden's Spring, Once Promised» //Priority Directions of Science and Technology Development. Proceedings of XI International scientific and practical conference. July 11-13, 2021. с. 546-550.

6. Павленко Т.М. Чоловіки і символи у творах Рея Бредбері і Ернеста Хемінгуєя (на матеріалі оповідань «At the End of the Ninth Year» Рея Бредбері і «Cat іп the Ram» Ернеста Хемінгуєя)// Англістика та американістика. Зб. наук. праць, вип.1. Дніпропетровськ: ДНУ, 2004. С. 114-119.

Размещено на Allbest.ru