Suvremena lingvistika, Vol. 64 No. 2, 2007.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
On the syntax of poetry and the poetry of syntax Exemplified by a passage from a poem
Dubravka Sesar
Sažetak
By comparing the syntactical structure of the original poem from the Czech Nobel Laureate
(1984) Jaroslav Seifert’s Jarní rondeaux (»Spring rondo«) with its Croatian translation – Proljetni
rondeaux we tried to illustrate the magic of language, namely to present at least one of the many
linguistic functions in the broad field of word art. Foremost we rely on well–known Jacobson’s
attitudes towards linguistics and poetry, i. e. grammar and poetry. The said poem has a very complex
verse structure; Seifert experiments with the »archaic« form rondo (famous from the Provencal
and Old–French Renaissance poetry) and artfully applies the verse possibilities of the Czech
language. Because of its structure the poem is a great challenge to translators; furthermore, the
cyclic repetition of poetic passages and the strictly bound verse makes it linguistically demanding.
However, the complex form is filled with a simple content, thus it is not problematic in terms of
meaning; one »simple« lyrical, nostalgic, poetic metaphor (spring: reminiscence on youth and love)
is unpretentious in style and lexis. Nevertheless, the rondo form necessarily bothers and »deforms
« the neutral, unmarked or standard syntax. The parallel syntactic analysis and comparison
of a selected short passage from the original poem and its translation was carried out by drawing
upon two syntactic approaches: the traditional structural–functional syntax and the two–level valence
syntax. Although by definition poetry breaks the rules of creating neutral modal expression
schemes, the modal aspect is also taken into consideration, as well as the word order, i. e. the
information structure of the sentence. The analysis of the chosen verses, based on the two syntactical
descriptions, has shown that the original and its translation do not differ on the semantic
level, whereas on the syntactic level they vary in only one element. However, the study undoubtedly
displays that the syntax – the formal and the semantic one – by itself does not reveal much
about the poem’s poetic character or the quality of the translation. To make the description complete
we cannot hold on only to syntax, for the poetic work is accomplished and perceived as a
complex structure of all linguistic means (lexical and grammatical) and procedures in the poetic
function. The function of the other linguistic (and stylistic) poem’s elements is illustrated on particular
examples and comparisons. Although these elements might be more appealing than the
mere syntax, their entire realization is accomplished solely within the syntax.
Ključne riječi
Seifert, Jaroslav; syntactic analysis; poetry; Czech litterature
Hrčak ID:
19497
URI
Datum izdavanja:
14.12.2007.
Posjeta: 1.907 *