Diction and Syntax

When using these tools in analyzing poetry, pay attention to their specific effects in the poem, how they contribute to the poem's meaning. In many cases the poet will use diction and syntax in unexpected or deviant ways; look for the hidden relation or significance that compensates for the break in the reader's expectations.

A. Collocation: tendency of words in a language to occur in close proximity to each other (based on logical and meaningful relationships between then, patterns of association and usage, etc). Collocation can be ascertained by experience, reading, and study of dictionaries that give multiple examples in the form of quotations, such as the Oxford English Dictionary). As illustrated below, the same word can have very different collocations. Poets can draw on collocations to create special effects and nuances of meaning.

• court: lawyer, judge, jury, witness, trial, conviction, etc.
• court: tennis, basketball, ball, player, etc.

B. Denotation: the neutral concept signified by the word; the straight “dictionary” definition. This can vary according to time period and cultural context.

C. Connotation: the sum of associations and implied attitudes carried by the word; the feelings it evokes. This will also vary according to time period and cultural context. See ambiguity for a discussion of how an analysis of denotation and connotation can contribute to poetic effect.

D. Paradigmatic Figures: an individual, unexpected word use (generally involves only one deviant or unexpected item). Where the writer faces a choice between equivalent items, he/she will choose one that is not equivalent.

1. Semantic deviation: phrase containing a word whose meaning violates the expectations created by the surrounding words: e.g., “a grief ago” (expect a temporal noun); “in the room so loud to my own” (expect a spatial adjective)
2. Grammatical deviation: phrase containing a word whose grammatical class violates the expectations created by the surrounding words: e.g., “the little / lame balloonman / whistles far and wee” (an adjective instead of a spatial adverb); “Anyone lived in a pretty how town” (in the first case, you have an interrogative indefinite pronoun instead of a declarative indefinite pronoun; in the second, you have an adverb instead of an adjective)

E. Syntagmatic Figures: unusual or unexpected change in the sequential arrangement of words (generally involves more than one deviant item).

1. Syntactic deviation: changes in word order, omission of words required by grammar: e.g., “So fair and foul a day I have not seen” (instead of the typical sentence pattern SVOM--Subject Verb Object Modifier--writes MOSV)
2. Excess of patterning: repeated sound patterns and/or syntactic parallelisms: e.g., “I kissed thee 'ere I killed thee” (repetition of sounds and structures emphasizes the antithetical nature of kissing and killing). Where choices are to be made, the writer repeatedly makes the same choice.

Additional Links:

• Semiotics for Beginners (Daniel Chandler): a more complex semiotic explanation of denotation/connotation and paradigmatic/syntagmatic analysis