Lexical Density and Sentence Complexity as Stylistic Devices in Poetry: A Comparative Study of A. K. Ramanujan and Nissim Ezekiel

Abstract

Poetry, like our experiences, is intrinsically abstract and intricate with its oblique language and inventive structure. Sanctioning the fact that human experiences and emotions are inherently so complex that a plain and direct language will fail to articulate, the poet's use of a language flexible and inventive enough to capture the complexity and abstraction of those experiences becomes highly significant. Furthermore, the chief apparatus of creating meaning in a language is its lexicon. Poetry, as contrasted to prosaic expressions, acquires its distinctiveness and lucidity by the choice of unique lexical patterns by the poet. A text acquires a prosaic or a conversational tone according to the ratio between the lexical elements and the functional elements. Writers bank on the syntax and diction to build up the desired tone, temperament and background in a text as also to rouse the interest of the readers in the poetry. This paper makes a comparative study of the use of lexical density and sentence complexity as stylistic devices in the poetry of A. K. Ramanujan and Nissim Ezekiel.