The representation of rapprochement in the images of Dylan Thomas's When once the twilight locks: A stylistic study.

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Wudpecker Journal of Sociology and Anthropology                                                  2013 Wudpecker Journals
Vol. 1(4), pp. 047 - 053, September 2013

  The representation of rapprochement in the images of
    Dylan Thomas‘s When once the twilight locks: A
                     stylistic study.
                              1
                               Negin Sajadi, Behrooz Mahmoodi Bakhtiari (Ph.D.)2
                       1
                           MA Student of English Literature, University of Tarbiat Moallem (Tehran).
                       2
                           Associate Professor, Department of Performing Arts, University of Tehran.

                                  *Corresponding author email address: sajadinegin@gmail.com.

                                                   Accepted 28 August 2013

    Andre Breton in his First Manifesto of Surrealism 1924 built his theory of the image and incorporated
    Revardy’s statements on the image as “rapprochement”. He considered surrealist image as an
    encounter. On the other hand, it has been stated (Moynihan, 1966) Dylan Thomas’s images abounded
    with strangely juxtaposed images and Thomas (1986) believed his poems could not move around a
    central image. Bringing together of images to establish unexpected relationship was the common
    characteristic between Breton’s theory of image and Thomas’s kinds of images. This article tried to
    survey how this rapprochement was presented in the phonetic, syntactic, and semantic levels of ‘’
    When Once the Twilight Locks’’, one of his poem that Jackaman (1989) has described it as a surrealist
    one, and it was also a defense of Thomas’s insight to his images. Gerald Mead (1978) related this theory
    to the surrealist images by applying linguistic theories of Charles Hockett (1967), Tzvetan Todorov
    (1966), and Michael Riffatrre (1969), and then developed a methodology for describing different aspects
    of the images. His way of analyzing was used in this article.

    Keywords: Image, rapprochement, Thomas, phonetic, syntactic, semantic.

INTRODUCTION

The main aim of this study is to survey how does Dylan           the poem and also to identify certain linguistic
Thomas use phonetic, syntactic, and semantic                     characteristics upon which they are built Andre Breton ’s
‘’rapprochement’’ in ‘’Once the Twilight Locks no Longer’’       Theory of Images (1924), that is built on the concept
to construct surrealist and unrelated images which has           ‘’rapprochement’’, is central. This theory is connected to
not been regarded in latter studies of Thomas’s poetry. In       surrealist images by Gerald Mead (1978). Tzvetant
his famous letter to Treece, Thomas believes his poems           Todorv’s idea regarding literal aspect of language (1967),
don’t make a central image. He went on:                          Charles Hockett’s        approach to phonetic encounter
                                                                 (1967), Todorove’s view about linguistic used to study the
‘I make one image--though “make” is not the word; I let,         representation of ‘’rapprochement’’ in phonetic, syntactic,
perhaps, an image be ‘’ made’’ emotionally in me and             and semantic aspects of the images.
then apply to it what intellectual and critical forces I            Linguistically, Dylan Thomas’s poetry is studied by
possess—let it breed another, let that image contradict          Geoffery Leech (1965), Siew-yue Killingley (1974), and
the first, make, of the third image bred out the other two       DEG Martinez (1993) whose approach follows the steps
together, a fourth contradictory image, and let them all,        of Leech and Killingley. Geoffrey Leech tries to
within my imposed formal limits, conflict. Each image            differentiate     linguistic  description     and     critical
holds within it the seed of its own destruction and my           interpretation in explaining literary text. In his study on
dialectal [sic] method… is a constant building up and            ‘’This Break I Breaks’’, he emphasizes cohesion, one of
breaking down of the images that come out of the central         the lexical and grammatical means which the poet used
seed, which is itself destructive and constructive at the        to unify the poem. Leech believes Lexical cohesion is
same time. …’ ( Moynihan, 1966).                                 more noticeable than grammatical cohesion in Dylan
                                                                 Thomas’s poem. Siew – yue Killingley (1974) studies the
To discover the basic principles of unrelated images of          poetry of Dylan Thomas in terms of lexical patterning,
Sajadiand Bakhtiari       048

semantic patterning and grammatical patterning. In              provide the syntactic guidance for the ‘’rapprochement’’
studying lexical patterning, Killingley uses the general        of the surrealist image.
theory of collocation. Semantic patterning in Thomas’s             In studying the semantic aspect, those aspects of the
poetry is studied in terms of words and imagery that had        image that make the reader to identify the surrealist
religious significance, and grammatical patterning is           ‘’rapprochement’’ as a semantic ‘’rapprochement’’ is
studied by using grammar theories of Chomsky (1965)             important. As Mead’s belief (1978) the semantic
and McIntosh (1961).                                            encounter is considered as a relationship between
  Finally Killingley asserts that Dylan Thomas uses             compatible and incompatible features of segments. In
unusual lexical collocations within normal syntactic order.     examining the semantic rapprochement, by using Mead
The study of Garcia Martinez (1993) in ‘’ When Once the         (1978) proposed model Im →                   in which he
Twilight Locks no Longer: Level of Semantic
                                                                combines Riffatrre‘s belief (1969) that the surrealist
Relationship” is in line with the conclusions of linguistic
                                                                ‘’rapprochement’’ is essentially a metaphoric relationship
analyses of Dylan Thomas poetry developed by Leech
                                                                between terms in a context and Todorov’s idea (1966)
and Killingley. The focus of the study is anomalies
                                                                regarding semantic anomaly, the compatible and
(1966), and Riffatrre‘s belief in metaphoric relationship
                                                                incompatible relationships of the images are shown. And
between terms (1969) are on the lexical units of the poem
                                                                also the word “image” in this study implied as the
and the main aim of his study is to establish these lexical-
                                                                capacity of language to refer to a perception or sensation.
semantic fields and analyze their relationship among
each other. In his studying, he uses all the possible levels
                                                                When Once The Twilight Locks No Longer 1
of semantic relationship to understand the poet’s world.
                                                                When once the twilight locks no longer
                                                                Locked in the long worm of my finger
                                                                Nor damned the sea that sped about my fist,
METHODOLOGY                                                     The mouth of time sucked, like a sponge,
                                                                The milky acid on each hinge,
Andre Breton (1924) believes surrealist image is the            And swallowed dry the waters of the breast.
result of the relation of two linguistic units in sequential
series on the syntagmatic level of language. His theory is      When galactic sea was sucked
based on combinatory process. According to Todorov              And all the dry seabed unlocked,
(1967), the literal aspect of language is different from its    I sent my creature scouting on the globe,
referential aspect and Breton’s approach in surveying the       That globe itself of hair and bone
surrealist image is literal one. In Breton’s view,              That, sewn to me by nerve and brain,
‘’rapprochement’’, a key term in his study, reveals the         Had stringed my flask of matter to his rib.
especial process that it led to make sense of the literal
aspect of the image. In analyzing ‘’rapprochement’’ of          My fuses timed to charge his heart,
surrealist images, phonetic and syntactic variations            He blew like powder to the light
present themselves. The content of the surrealist image         And held a little sabbath with the sun,
is the result of the function of the process of                 But when the stars, assuming shape
‘’rapprochement’’. So, there will be established a              Drew in his eyes the straws of sleep
particular relationship between the literal sense of the        He drowned his father’s magics in a dream.
image and its content. Mead (1978) has argued that the
contact between literalness and meaning in the process          All issue armoured, of the grave,
of rapprochement will lead to study of semantic aspect of       The redhaired cancer still alive,
the image                                                       The cataracted eyes that filmed their cloth;
   In examining the phonetic aspect of the image in the         Some dead undid their bushy jaws,
poem, Charles Hockett’s approach (1967) to phonetic             And bags of blood let out their flies;
encounter is applied. According to him, certain phonetic        He had by heart the Christ-cross-row of death.
encounters are the result of an effort to say more than
one thing simultaneously. He believes phonetic repetition,      Sleep navigates the tides of time
sound similarities, and phonetic variation in surrealist text   The dry Sargasso of the tomb
present a variety of images based on sound encounter.           Gives up its dead to such a working sea;
And also Todorove’s idea (1966) about linguistic                And sleep rolls mute above the beds
anomalies is used in this part. He identifies certain           Where fishes’ food is fed the shades
phonetic repetition as a violation of a sound/ sense            Who periscope through flowers to the sky.
principle. The surrealist sound image is in this sense,
sound/sense anomaly. To surveying the syntactic aspect,         When once the twilight screws were turned,
the relationships among different levels of segment is          And mother milk was stiff as sand,
important. The occurrence of such relationships will            I sent my own ambassador to light;
049       Wudpecker J. Sociol. Anthropol.

By trick or chance he fell asleep                              rapprochement of the two terms, the image (a,b).
And conjured up a carcass shape                                   Based on Hockett’s study (1967), linear proximity, in
                                                               addition to phonetic similarity, is a factor in the X function
To rob me of my fluids in his heart.                           of the model. As Richard A. Lanham (1969: Pp 71-72)
Awake, my sleeper, to the sun,                                 says, according to traditional rhetoric, phonetic
A worker in the morning to                                     occurrences of this type, that is the repetition of the same
And leave the poppied pickthank where he lies;                 or similar sound in words in close or immediate
The fences of the light are down,                              sequences is called parechesis, and it contains such
All but the brisket riders thrown,                             figures as alliteration, consonance, and so on. In
And worlds hang on the trees.                                  parechasis there is a process of combination based on
                                                               contiguity of linear elements. It means that parechesis
                                                               reveals a syntagmatic or combinatory process. As Mead
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION                                         (1978) says the discussion of the operation of the below
                                                               images can be summarized by saying that in the image
Phonetic aspects                                               the X function is a phonetic similarity in a syntagmatic
                                                               relationship operation is a phonetic rapprochement the
Sound patterning was one of the device poet uses in his        image ab.
poetry. Sound relates to other aspects of poetic                  In addition to phonetic repetition, some examples
language. As Walter Koch (1966, p 20) mentions sound           presented a type of sound similarity that can be identified
patterning should be considered with syntactic ordering of     as phonetic reversal and in some others the association
language. The relationship of sound pattern to meaning is      of terms of the image was brought about by phonetic
still a disagreement subject among critics. Among these        resemblance not by actual repetition. On the basis of
critics Samuel R. Levin (1962: p 46) believes “Rhyming         these conditions it can be stated that the X function of the
words may frequently be found to be semantically               original statement X (A,B)→ab will now be understood as
equivalent, but the phenomenon does not seem to occur          a repetition (with or without reversal and/or variation) of
very often”. In spite of this contemporary unsolved            one or more phonetic units.
problem, most critics and linguistics accept Roman             Here the most obvious presentation of these operations:
Jakobson’s idea (1960, p.372) that “any conspicuous
similarity in sound is evaluated in respect to similarity in   (1) He below like powder to the light
sound is evaluated in respect to similarity and/or             The association of the syntagmatic units ‘’like’’, ‘’light’’
dissimilarity in meaning”. Language’s literal aspect, as       and ‘’powder’’, ‘’the’’ of this image demonstrates, on the
mentioned, is the capacity of language to refer only to        literal level, an association that can be identified as
itself. As Breton says the surrealist image is theoretically   phonetic repetition: /laɪ/ and /də/. The operation principle
an encounter, a “rapprochement” of two or more items.          in this image can be described in the following way: the
The structure important here, in term of literal aspects of    phonetic similarity /laɪ/ and /də/ are seen in operation in
the sound image, is a phonetic encounter.                      these terms, ‘’like’’, ‘’light’’ and ‘’powder’’, ‘’the’’
   Charles Hockett (1967) approaches the problem of            (hɪbluːlaɪkpaʊdərtudəlaɪt/.From this point of view the
meaning in phonetic encounters from linguistic point of        image ‘’ He below like powder to the light’’ is seen as
view. Hockett classifies three types of phonetic               structured on a principle of phonetic repetition.
encounter, bends, inexact puns, and puns. As Mead
(1978: p 36) writes “Hockett’s analysis of phonetic            (2) Sleep navigates the tides of time
encounter can be concluded as the product of a particular      This image presents a sequential association of units
operation on a these terms: X(A,B) → ab’’, this statement      through sound repetitions. There is a repetition in /taɪ/.
points out that the operation X on a set of terms (A,B)        Along with phonetic repetition, there is a kind of near-
results in or generates the phonetic encounter ab.             echo within a phonetic context, which can be identified as
   Breton (1924) describes the surrealist image as a           phonetic variation, we have plosive variation in which
rapprochement of two distant realities and he believes         /geɪts/ becomes /taɪds/.
that this kind of rapprochement can be affected by a
process of repetition, here sound repetition. He considers     (3) The red haired cancer still alive
sound as the ordering device of the image. In this poem        This image depicts sound repetition in /rd/. Also, there is
as will be shown, the most outstanding feature of the          a variation of /er/ and /ər/ in ‘’the redhaired caccer’’
images was that each contains a repetition of one or           /dərədherdkæntsər/. In addition to phonetic repetition and
more phonetic elements. As Breton’s belief, it is by           variation this example shows a type of sound similarity
phonetic similarities that these images are realized in a      that can be identified as phonetic reversal. The sequence
very literal way. The operation at work (the X function) in    /ts/ is rewritten as /st/ ( /kantsər stiːl/).
the images of the poem is a phonetic repetition in two
terms (word A, word B) which results in (→) a                  (4) When once the twilight locks no longer
Sajadiand Bakhtiari         050

(5) Drew in his eyes the straws of sleep                          N+ Prep+ N, in (3), /er,ər/ for deter + adj + N, and /druː,
(6) Some dead undid their bushy jaws                              trɑː/ for the string VP + NP.
(7) He had by heart the Christ-cross-row of death                    The sound image was defined as the result (ab) of
                                                                  particular phonetic operation (X) on at least two terms in
In these examples the association of terms of the image           close linear proximity (A,B and/or A+B). The literal sense
is brought about by phonetic resemblance. In (4), there           presents itself as semantic form. Finally, rapprochement
are variations of /we,wʌ,waɪ/ and /laɪ,lɑː/ in                    will be seen as a semantic operation. The semantic
(/wenwʌntsDetwaɪlaɪtlɑːksnoulɑːŋər/, in (5) a plosive             operation of these kinds of sound image is a specific
variation in which /druː/ becomes /trɑː/ and variation of         semantic operation. It is a function of the literal sense
/Iz,aɪz,/ in (/druːɪnhɪ zaɪzdəstrɑːsʌfsliːp/),in (6), variation   depicted before. It depends on that sense for its own
of /de,dʌ,dɪ/ and nasal variation in which /ʌm/ becomes           meaning. This dependency comes about through what
/ʌn/ in (/sʌmdedʌndɪdDerbuʃidʒɑːz/, and in (7), plosive           seems to be an infraction of a particular rule of language.
variation in which /hæd/ becomes /hɑː..t/ and variation of        Tzvetan Todorov (1966) describes what he calls linguistic
/kraɪs,krɑːs/ in (/hɪhædbaɪhɑːrtdə kraɪstkrɑːsraʊʌfdəθ/.          ‘’anomalies’’ and identify certain phonetic repetitions as
                                                                  violations of a sound/sense principle. According to him,
(8) The cataracted eyes that filmed their cloth                   alliteration, paronomasia, and assonance, and rime, are
This image demonstrates repetition of /æt/ and a plosive          violations of this principle. The surrealist sound image, as
variation    in    which/tər/     becomes       /Der/  in         Mead says, is a sound/sense anomaly.
(/dəkætəræktdaɪzdætfɪlmdDerklɑːθ/.                                   Mead (1978) concludes that in this situation, the image
                                                                  ab in this operation X(A,B) is not really a violation of
(9) And swallowed dry the waters of the breast                    sound/sense equivalence principle that Todorov
In image (9), there is variation of /wɑː, wɔː/ and reversal       mentions. He believes it applies principles in a different
pattern of plosive variation in which /st/ becomes /ds/ in        way. The image receives, takes on its meaning from the
(/ændswɑːloueddraɪDəwɔːtərʌfDəbrest/.                             literal rapprochement. Not all, but some of the images
                                                                  above can be examined in this way.
As it was mentioned by Killingley (1974) in her study of             The phonetic repetitions of (2), /eɪts,aɪds/, of (5) / druː,
Thomas’s poetry, Thomas’s poetry tends to have a                  trɑː/, and of (7) / kraɪs,krɑːs / are taken as the motivating
regular syntactic and linear proximity was considered a           device in these images, then the semantic sequence
positional characteristic of the phonetic similarities in         must be understood as a kind of variation and transition:
sound image. The result of these two tendencies will be           ‘’navigates’’ becomes ‘’tides’’, ‘’drew’’ becomes ‘’straws’’,
the occurrence of phonetic similarities in regular and            and ‘’christ” becomes ‘’cross”. Phonetic similarities affect
coherence syntactic constructions.                                a semantic rapprochement. Sound similarities in these
   Mead (1978) believes that the sense of the surrealist          images motivated semantic equivalences. It can be said
image is in rapprochement it affects and sound                    that the meaning of the sound image ab is a function of
similarities are means of effecting this collecting. In           its literal structure. Phonetic motivation does not explain
example (6), there is a particular sound structure                the semantic content of the image; it presents only how
(/ʌm…de, ʌn … dʌ /) and a parallel or overlapping                 the meaning in the image is possible. It shows the types
syntactic structure (NP+VP). The new relationship can be          of meaning that are possible. The rapprochement in the
mentioned. Based on this statement, X(A,B)→ab, here               above images is an operation and not semantic
A,B have regular syntactic relationship to each other.            descriptions. The phonetic operation of the sound image
This condition as Mead says can be mentioned by                   is such that the terms of the image are, in a very literal
rewriting A,B as A + B. What has happened in this                 way, reflected or echoed in each other.
statement X(A+B)→ab is that phonetic similarity becomes
the main device of the syntactic sequence. So, in (6),
(/ʌm…de, ʌn… dʌ /) becomes the motivation operation of            Syntactic aspects
the sequence NP + VP.
   Most of the images above can be analyzed as coherent           This part examined the rapprochement of the image in
syntactic structures. At the same time, each contains a           syntactic structures. There was relationship or
distinctive structure based on phonetic similarities:             rapprochement between segments of an image.
                                                                  Meaningful relationship between segments was
(1) NP + VP → Pron + V + Prep +N +Prep +deter + N                 identified. Relationships happened at the many levels of
(2) NP+ VP →N+ V+ Prep+ N+ Prep+ N                                the segment. The presence of these relationships
(3)NP → deter + adj + N                                           provided the syntactic guidelines for the rapprochement
(5) VP + NP→V + Prep + Pron+ N + Prep + N + Prep + N              of the surrealist image.
                                                                    In this poem, poet tended to extend and accumulate
In (1), /laɪ…də/ becomes the motivation operation of the          concepts. There were frequent occurrences of imagery
sequence N +Prep, and in (2), /taɪ/ for the string Prep+          built on one of conjunction model Segment + and +
051        Wudpecker J. Sociol. Anthropol.

Segment. The models simply gathered items by pairs to                   (17) That globe itself of hair
shape a number of conceptual rapprochements. The                        (18) the straws of sleep
conjunction ‘’and’’ provided the means for building                     (19) bags of blood
recurrent model. It could be form the kind of torrential                (20) The fences of the light
flow that Breton spoke to create constant accumulation of
concepts. An examination of this poem revealed 11                       Thomas uses these unusual imageries in the
occurrences of the conjunction ‘’and’’, as in these                     rapprochement of dissimilar lexical items in this model.
examples:                                                               Thomas’s imagination passes from, for examples, ‘’bag’’
                                                                        to ‘’light’’. The rapid shift in semantic fields is the result in
(10)The milky acid on each hinge,                                       conceptual fragmentation in the sequences but as Mead
And swallowed dry the waters of the breast.                             says the rapid shift in semantic fields is controlled by the
(11) When galactic sea was sucked                                       continual repetition of the syntactic structure.
And the entire dry seabed unlocked,                                     Charles J. Filmore (1968) suggests that these segments
(12) That globe itself of hair and bone                                 can be grouped together in terms of their place in a
That, sewn to me by nerve and brain,                                    universal ‘’case’’ system that manage such relationship in
                                                                        deep structure, where conceptual notions developed for
Another syntactic model used in this poem was partial                   the first time. Mead concludes that such syntactic models
equivalency structure with ‘’like’’. It has been stated                 show in their underlying structure a verbal element that is
(Mead, 1978) that the word ‘’like’’ has been considered                 empty or has been deleted or compressed in their
by critics to be one of the chief image forming devices of              derivational history and the rapprochement in images
surrealist poetry. Partial equivalency is established                   built on the NP + of + NP can be presented in the sense
between segments, two NPs. Owen Thomas (1962: p 41-                     of synonymous sentences. So it seems that in the images
42) believes usually poets use this structure to limit the              above their conceptual structure is similar. The
rapprochement of two concepts. Owen Thomas (1962:                       rapprochement in these images comes about in terms of
p.41-42) believes in total equivalency statement, NP + Be               their syntactic structure as it was mentioned. But syntax
+ NP, the identity of one concept is established by                     establishes a conceptual framework, it means, it just
transferring the total meaning of a second concept to it                impose not states conceptual relationship. Mead (1978)
but in partial equivalency models, the identity of one                  pointed out the semantic incompatibilities of the
concept is established in terms of certain features of                  sequence confuse the syntactic message. This point
another concept. In example (13) and (14), the mouth of                 relates to the semantic level of the image and it will be
time compares to a sponge and mother milk which is stiff                mentioned in the next part of study.
compares to sand.                                                       Mead (1978) mentions another conceptual use of syntax
                                                                        to affect rapprochement in surrealist texts, and that is by
(13)The mouth of time sucked, like a sponge,                            the use of syntactic synonyms, or the repetition of parallel
(14) And mother milk was stiff as sand,                                 structures. It creates coherence for the texts, as in this
                                                                        example (21),
In partial equivalency statement, as Mead (1978) says
there is flexibility of conceptual structure to readers                 (21) Sleep navigates the tides of time;
because there is no certain feature like in equivalency                   The dry Sargasso of the tomb
structure. This characteristic results in uncertainty and                 Gives up its dead to such a working sea;
disorientation of the image. It produces the kind of                      And sleep rolls mute above the beds
incompatibility between the segments.                                     Where fishes’ food is fed the shades
   There were two less extended models that have been                     Who periscope through flowers to the sky.
considered by critics, like Hackett (1970: Pp 230-233), as
important devices in surrealist writers. Both structures                There is the repetition of the sequence ‘’ NP + VP’’ in the
involved noun phrases and in both rapprochements were                   first four lines of the stanza. In this example syntactic
realized in surface structure by a preposition.                         parallelism emphasizes the equivalency of the two lines
   Regarding the first model, the NP + prepositions + NP,               one and four. There is, a confrontation of items in
Breton (1987: p 90) identified it as an image forming                   especial position, a rapprochement of ‘’navigates’’ and
structure. It is used to show possession in the sense of                ‘’rolls’’ to mention the verbs of the images.
‘’X’’ belongs to ‘’Y’’, or ‘’X’’ is a part of or a trait of ‘’Y’’. As   The important principle of the models above is to be
Mead says these structures unites semantically disparate                found in the theory of surrealist image. The central effect
segments in a coherent sequential structure. Thomas                     of these models poet uses, as mentioned by critics
used NP + of + NP models 11 times. In examples:                         above, is to bring together dissimilar terms, to create
                                                                        through the combinatory process of syntax a conceptual
(15) the long worm of my finger                                         rapprochement that overrules the incompatibilities of the
(16) the mouth of time                                                  segment involved. It becomes an important element in
Sajadiand Bakhtiari          052

the content of the image.                                       referential context. The sign ≠ will read incompatible with
                                                                here and in the discussion following (as opposed to =
                                                                which is to be read compatible with). By combining these
Semantic aspect                                                 two models, Mead wants to obtain a statement that will
                                                                admit the kinds of relationships observed in Breton’s
The last part of this study concerned semantic aspects; it      image. Such a statement will allow a systematic
means the problem of meaning. Based on those                    approach to the analysis of the semantic aspects of the
conclusions,     mentioned      before,   which     defined     surrealist image.
rapprochement as a linguistic event, as the relation of two        In the model proposed by Maed Im →                  , the line
linguistic units in sequential series on the syntagmatic
level of language, in this part those aspects of the image      separating the compatible description, borrowing from
that allowed the reader to understand the surrealist            Riffaterre, from the incompatible description, borrowing
rapprochement as a semantic rapprochement were                  from Todorov, indicates that this is not a paradoxical
studied. A semantic point of view of the rapprochement          statement of the type ‘’A is equal to B; A is not equal to
was characterized as an encounter between terms that            B,’’ but it is a statement of relationship. The model
were semantically distant, dissimilar, and unrelated. Here      proposed by Mead presents a description of the chief
an attempt was made to describe this condition in               semantic characteristics of the surrealist image and it
systematical way.                                               shows how to assign a set of specific definitions to the
   Michael Riffaterre and Tzvetan Todorov examine the           notions of distant, dissimilar, unrelated, and so on, that
semantic problems and it is Mead who presents a model           have been used to describe the encounter of segments.
by combining their ideas regarding semantic                        Thomas’s ‘’When Once the Twilight Locks no Longer’’
rapprochement. Riffatrre (1969) believes that the               followed such different but regular patterns of syntax
surrealist rapprochement is mainly a metaphoric                 mentioned before. Sequences presented giving birth to a
relationship between terms in a context. Riffaterre             creature, and the creature’s death through passing of
borrows I. A. Richards’ distinction between tenor and           time. In sequences: The milky acid, the water of the
vehicle to describe the relationship between terms. He          breast, galactic sea was sucked,, mother milk was stiff,
says that the metaphor is basically a semantic statement        the first segment to examine is birth of the creation, for
of equivalence T = V. His main argument is to show how          which these features can be include for example, the
a primary metaphor is expanded in surrealist texts to form      features Noun, Common, Animate, Human, and so forth,
a system of relationships and how in that system new            then physical condition of the creature will be found,
metaphoric terms can be understood as a function of or          including such items ‘’hair’’, ‘’bone’’, ‘’nerve’’, ‘’brain’’. On
derivation from the original one.                               the other hand, in sequences: Drew in his eyes the
   In examining the semantic problems, Tzvetan Todorov          straws of sleep, the Christ-cross-row of death, The dry
(1966) recognizes three main types of anomalies in his          Sargasso of the tomb, he fell asleep, the segment to
study. They are according to the kind of violation they         examine is death of creature. By this the compatibility of
display. The first one is based on the selectional and          the sequences is offered. There were sequences show
contextual limitation governing segments in specific            internal semantic incompatibilities:
grammatical relationships. Todorov calls this kind
‘’combinatory anomalies’’. In this class he recognizes one      (22) The mouth of time
important subclasses involves a level of ‘’intensity’’ in the   (23) The redhaired cancer still alive
combinatory violation. Based on this feature there are          (24) Sleep navigates the tides of time
material/non-material         and       human/non-human         (25) Sleep rolls mute above beds
contradictions. The second class of violations is ‘’logical     (26) Worlds hang on the trees
anomalies’’. It includes sequences that are self-
contradictory and apparent contradictions or paradoxes.         Images contained incompatible relationships, and they
The third class of violations named by Todrov is                are motivated by ‘’cultural conventions’’, it means in
referential anomaly. Todorov suggests two sub-classes of        number of cases it is acceptable. In (22) the feature of
referential anomalies: those that appear physically or          mouth would define it as compatible only with items
anthropologically unlikely, and those that describe a non-      possessing the feature animate, ‘’navigates’’ in (24), the
existent universe.                                              feature of human, ‘’rolls mute’’ in (25) and ‘’hang’’ in (26),
   In Todorov’s idea these three main anomalies are             the feature of material. Usage, however, expands this
cases of semantic violation and in all the cases a              definition; it seems, to include groups of other things as
semantic condition or context is established by one more        well, so that Thomas’s use here is not really a strong
segments of a sequence, a context which is subsequently         case of incompatibility.
violated or denied by another segment or segments. This           The survey of some semantic features indicated that
process is generalized by Mead by the following model,          generally it is variety rather than similarity that
where AS represents a semantic anomaly, S a segment             characterizes the NP sequences of’’ When Once the
or group of segments and C a specific linguistic and/or         Twilight Locks no Longer’’. In partial equivalency model,
053        Wudpecker J. Sociol. Anthropol.

the first segment of each NP is a noun and both have an                  REFERENCES
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Twilight Locks’’, Thomas manifested his particular use of
the most capacity of language, as was shown, in the
process of rapprochement and created unexpected
relationships through a sudden meeting of terms.
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