Linguistic approach to literary criticism
...is would lead to a number of scandals. Either the young girl would run away with another man (just as the unlucky lover is attempting to) or stay as a widow. If the man didn’t come back with a while woman, he would refuse to come back to the country. Either way the home would end up in problems. Such are the circumstances for which Magemeso wrote his poem and he sympathizes with the situation. He blames neither the girl nor the boy for that was the dictation of the times. The general style of the text is that it falls in the genre of poetry as opposed to drama and fiction it therefore has its own peculiar use of language which is one area of interest in this linguistic approach of literary criticism. The diction has been carefully selected to convey a particular desired message. Right at the beginning of the poem, the expression “Oo” communicates more than it looks; it communicates the excitement by the girl at the sight of her former lover whom she looks at as a savior at such a time. The interjection carries with it a tone of relief put in its simplest form. Such words like “unlucky lover” in the title, “unlucky body” in line 10 and “widow” in line 17 show the fate of loneliness on the side of the lover as a sign of marital dissatisfaction and in turn arouse our sympathy towards her. One would be unrealistic not to sympathize with a widow who is in most cases left lonely, helpless and miserable The girl says, I would sacrifice all to bring us together And to be sure, I can’t sexually starve; The straight forward use of the words ‘sacrifice’ and ‘sexual starvation’ carry a heavy message of despair on the young girl’s side. She can afford to forego everything for the sake of this old boyfriend of hers. Rarely do we find women as straight forward and assertive as in the same case with this unlucky lover. Mentioning her plea of sexual starvation without any reservations shows the fury that she bears, something Magemeso has effectively communicated through his use of well selected strong words. In addressing her old boyfriend, the speaker is very passionate. She uses words like; Darling, I am all done. Darling, just days ago. Darling, that’s all I have to say. Such repetitive language is very persuasive and the reader can easily identify with the speaker by sympathizing with her, thus the poet’s goal achieved. In saying that “… I was married to a tin of salt” the young woman is referring indirectly to the corrosive element of salt, an indication that her husband is no better than this infertile tin of salt. Alluding to Jesus' teaching that when salt loses its saltiness, then it deserves throwing away and trampling on, the young woman is in other words saying that her husband has lost his saltiness is therefore useless and should be discarded. All this has been communicated in just a group of few words. The straight usage of language also emphasizes the woman’s determination. She makes strong statements. For example she asks; “Am I his sister?” to which she answers “very no” The reference to a ‘sister’ carries a serious message to the audience. The relationship of a person/man with his sister is such that they should never and should not have a sexual relationship. So when she asks whether she is a sister to her husband she is wondering why the husband is treating her as a sister by failure to perform in his marital expectations and responsibilities.Such rhetory shows that the woman is disgusted and she is out to convince her lover when she comes up with assurances of, I’d sacrifice all to bring us together Whatever you ask… I’ll obey with you I will be gone if you agree She later proceeds to sound a warming to her former boyfriend “But without you for sure I’ll die unhappy”. All this is to persuade the reader to sympathize with this desperate and helpless unlucky lover. The word formation in the poem is something worth noting. Our attention is attracted to compound words like; “second -hand wife” which would otherwise mean a duplicate, not original and pure wife. Indeed having married in church with one man, the young lady cannot consider herself the pure (original) girl for another man. But again she says, “she is husbandless” it is this situational irony that prompts her to plead with her former boyfriend to come to her rescue and take her as a wife irrespective of the stain attached to her. Magemeso employs imagery depicted in the descriptive language and figures of speech used. Such descriptive language as; Darling, feel my unlucky body And see how much I’ve cooled Cooled because I don’t know. This appeals especially to our sense of feeling, making a thermal image on our mind. We can imagine that the lover is ice- cold and this may not only be in terms of temperature but also in terms of mood. She has precisely exposed her problem of loneliness, misery and unhappiness because the husband deserted her. In the statement “I was married to a tin of salt” there is use of a metaphor. This is at the same time personification for a tin of salt has been accorded human qualities of marriage, but metaphorically the speaker uses a tin of salt to express the useless and extinct nature of her husband. When a tin of salt rusts, it becomes something extinct. So by referring her husband to a tin of salt, she is implicitly comparing the nature of the man in relation to his marital responsibilities. ‘Blood’ has also been personified as the woman says “it’s the blood in the veins that speaks to you”. Blood has been accorded the human ability to speak meaning that even if this girl did not speak, the blood that has cooled in her veins would be able to speak louder. The boyfriend would therefore understand the tragedy that has befallen this old girlfriend of his, and thus have mercy on her by “warming up” her blood- marrying her. The syntax of the poem portrays good use of parenthesis in the construction of structures and phrases and in this case verses. This has been effected in lines 15, 21 and 25 as illustrated below respectively: Whatever you ask me, your old girlfriend I will obey. The intention of adding the phrase “your old girlfriend” is to emphasize that the speaker is not appealing to a stranger but a person she has rather known for sometime and at that, an old boyfriend. And, to be sure, I can’t sexually starve But without you, for sure, I will die unhappy. The phrases ‘to be sure’ and ‘for sure’ give an impression that the speaker has given the idea enough thought and has come up with such assurances as she elaborates. All these are still persuasive measures on the sides of both the speaker and the poet to their respective audiences. The phonology of the poem is characterized by the tremendous use of repetition .The speaker repeats various phrases in the course of her speech which do not only contribute to the poem's rhythm, but more so is for emphasis and expression of her strong feelings and emotion. For example, “Darling just day’s ago-just days ago’’ The repetition here shows the speaker as one who is at a loss of words to tell her sad story. She is demoralized and disappointed as emphasized by the repetition of the words “just days ago” Again she says, If only I was powerful -if only I was powerful ….I don’t know Whether you can accept a second -hand wife A second hand wife is to your bed Her despair, helpless...