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The emotion of LOVE in George Seferis’ poetry:  A Cognitive Linguistic analysis of one of his poems 

Alexandra ChristakidouPhD student in Cognitive Linguistics

Thessaloniki Cognitive Linguistics Reading GroupAristotle University of Thessaloniki

Greece

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George Seferis

(1900-1971)

Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963

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Objectives

To analyse a love poem that was written by George Seferis on August 28th , 1945 (Seferis 1973: 18-19; Seferis 1974: 10).

To analyse the poem using tools from Cognitive Linguistics.

To investigate the separate emotional effects each lexical item, as well as, the poem as a whole has.

To understand how figurative language works in the poem.

To focus on contrast, blending, and synaesthesia.

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Cognitive Poetics

“The cognitive turn in the humanities is an aspect of a more general cognitive turn taking place in the contemporary study of human beings”.

“Its purpose […] is […] to invent a practical, sustainable, intelligible, intellectually coherent paradigm for answering basic and recurring questions about the cognitive instruments of art, language, and literature.” (Turner 2002:9)

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Embodiment One of the most important subjects in Cognitive Linguistics is

that of embodiment. Embodiment associates cognition with our bodily experiences.

(Lakoff and Johnson 1999; Gibbs 2006; Sharifian, Dirven, Yu and Niemeier 2008).

“It also views the more abstract target domains of cognition, e.g. those of thought, emotion and language, as based on concrete source domains such as the human body and the conceptualizations of the internal body parts”

(Sharifian, Dirven, Yu and Niemeier 2008 : 7)

EMBODIMENT IN THE EXPRESSION OF LOVE

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Conceptualization of Emotions

Conceptualization of emotions

“is governed by ecological, environmental, culture-specific and universal factors.”

(Athanasiadou and Tabakowska 1998: xxi)

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Χωρὶς χρῶμα, χωρὶς σῶμα… Χωρὶς χρῶμα, χωρὶς σῶμα

τούτη ἡ ἀγάπη ποὺ πηγαίνεισκορπισμένη, μαζεμένη,σκορπισμένη πάλι-πάλι,κι ὅμως σφύζει κι ὅμως πάλλειστὴ δαγκωματιὰ τοῦ μήλουστὴ χαραγματιὰ τοῦ σύκουσ᾿ ἕνα βυσσινὶ κεράσισὲ μιὰ ρώγα ἀπὸ ροδίτητόση ἀνάερη Ἀφροδίτηθὰ διψάσει θὰ κεράσειἕνα στόμα κι ἄλλο στόμαχωρὶς χρῶμα, χωρὶς σῶμα.

(George Seferis August 28th 1945)

(Seferis 1973: 18-19)

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Transcription of Pronunciation xorís xróma, xorís sóma …

xorís xróma, xorís sómatoúti i aγápi pou piʝéniskorpizméni, mazeméni,skorpizméni páli-páliki ómos sfízi ki ómos pálisti δagomatçiá tou mílousti xaraγmatçiá tou síkous éna visiní kerásise miá róγa apo roδítitósi anáeri afroδítiθa δipsási θa kerásiena stóma ki álo stómaxorís xróma, xorís sóma

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Translation: Colorless, bodiless…

Colorless, bodiless,this love advances,scattered, gathered,scattered again and again,yet throbs and beatsin the biting of the applein the bursting of the figinto a dark-red cherryin a rose-colored grape;so airy an Aphroditewill thirst, will offerone mouth and another mouthcolorless, bodiless

(Translation of Seferis’ poem by A. Anagnostopoulos in A Poet's Journal. Days of 1945-1951, 1974: 10)

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Χωρὶς χρῶμα, χωρὶς σῶμα/xorís xróma, xorís sóma/

Without color, without body‘Colorless, bodiless’

Negation effect: creates contrast. E.g. from Elytis’ ‘the Monogram’ (1972)

And none had heard about youAbout you neither the dittany nor the mushroomOn Crete’s high places nothing.

(Christakidou 2012: 82)

Binary opposition E.g. Right/left An opposition that carries a markedness criterion along

with it — right is unmarked and left is marked.

(Danesi 2009: 29)

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Contrasting with the following lines that describe colorful fruit, pleasure, heartbeat, etc.

“Oxymoron” and “Paradox” a. “I must be cruel to be kind”. b. “He’s a wise fool”.

“In [a], which is an example of paradox, a cruel action is in fact kind if seen from a different perspective. In [b], an oxymoron, a person’s generally foolish behavior can be seen as occasionally having surprisingly positive results that would be considered wise by many”.

“In both the hearer is required to construct a source domain where the opposed terms can be reconciled on the basis of different perspectives”.

“Interestingly, in this kind of mapping, two separate (in fact opposite) domains are conflated into one single domain that reconciles their discrepancies, which ultimately converts the A IS B operation into a domain-internal one, which is the canonical relationship in A FOR B operations”.

(Ruiz de Mendoza 2011: 113-115)

Χωρὶς χρῶμα, χωρὶς σῶμα/xorís xróma, xorís sóma/

Without color, without body‘Colorless, bodiless’

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This line can be read both literally and figuratively. Literally: Love is an emotion and it cannot be seen or touched.

Metaphorically: LOVE IS A LIVING CREATURE with a body and colour (normally). In this love relationshipTHE OPPOSITE HAPPENS. (Unmarked / marked).

Also, it could be claimed that there is a metonymic relationship between the lack of BODY and lack of TOUCH.

BODY STANDS FOR TOUCH (WHOLE FOR PART).

Possible entailments This love relationship cannot be seen. (It is secret) It is not a happy relationship. There is no hope to advance. It is without physical connection. ( From a distance?)

Χωρὶς χρῶμα, χωρὶς σῶμα/xorís xróma, xorís sóma/

Without color, without body‘Colorless, bodiless’

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τούτη ἡ ἀγάπη ποὺ πηγαίνει /toúti i aγápi pou piʝéni/

this love that goes‘this love advances’

One of the main metaphors of the poem is of the type LOVE IS A JOURNEY (Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 44-45)

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σκορπισμένη, μαζεμένη /skorpizméni, mazeméni/

scattered, gathered This love is not static but it changes: ->It is scattered/ it spreads, ->It is gathered.

METAPHORS

LOVE IS AN OBJECT that can be broken, scattered, and its pieces can be gathered and form the initial object again.

or

LOVE IS A SUBSTANCE that can be scattered and gathered again.

CONTRAST:SCATTERED/GATHERED (OPPOSITE CONCEPTS)

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“σκορπισμένη πάλι-πάλι” /skorpizméni páli-páli/

scattered again and again

The sense of repetition enhances the sense of movement of this love and it places emphasis on the first part of the contrast SCATTERED/ GATHERED. Moreover, SCATTERING creates an image of expansiveness that may entail HAPPINESS ( Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 18).But alsoSCATTERING to even more pieces may refer to a DESTRUCTION that entails SADNESS (Christakidou 2010).Thus: The same concept read from a different perspective can lead to opposite emotions. Since the reader cannot be sure of which reading is correct, there is a kind of CONCEPTUAL BLENDING (Fauconnier and Turner 2006/ 1998) , where both inputs co-exist.

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κι ὅμως σφύζει κι ὅμως πάλλει /ki ómos sfízi ki ómos páli/

yet throbs, yet beats‘yet throbs and beats’

Though love cannot be seen, it can be heard and felt by the HEARTBEAT of the two lovers.

Metonymy

PHYSICAL/BEHAVIORAL EFFECT FOR EMOTION CAUSING IT(Radden and Kövecses 1999: 39)

THE INTENSE HEARTBEAT STANDS FOR LOVE

orTHE INTENSE BEATING OF VEINS STANDS FOR LOVE

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An entailment of this metonymy is that THIS LOVE IS A LIVING ORGANISM since certain living organisms, can have a heartbeat. Hence, if LOVE IS A LIVING ORGANISM, it also has a BODY. This creates CONTRAST with the word bodiless of the first line of the poem.

Moreover, the word “σφύζει” in Greek is related with being healthy and active.

“σφύζει από ζωή” /Sfízi apo zoí/ ‘(S)he bustles with life’

Another CONTRAST: Between this line and the previous one, due to the adversative conjunction KI OMΩΣ/ ki ómos/ ‘ΥΕΤ’.

κι ὅμως σφύζει κι ὅμως πάλλει /ki ómos sfízi ki ómos páli/

yet throbs, yet beats‘yet throbs and beats’

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στὴ δαγκωματιὰ τοῦ μήλου/sti δagomatçiá tou mílou/ ‘in the biting of the apple’

This love can be tasted though it cannot be seen. For the creation of a feeling of taste, the poet uses words that

refer to fruit. This love has sound since there is the sound of the biting of an

apple and the bursting of a fig.

Conceptual blending and synaesthesia: between tastes, sounds, and colors.

Contrast: The fruit mentioned in the poem have intense colors that come in contrast with this love that is referred to as ‘colorless’ in the first line.

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Conceptual blending and mixture of sensesMixture of senses Conceptual blending Semantic integration is performed by

combining “conceptual integration networks” (see Fauconnier and Turner [1998] 2006: 307).

At least two input mental spaces are required for each conceptual blend (ibid: 308).

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Synaesthesia

Synaesthesia the unconscious perceptual experience that comes from the combination and interaction of multimodal associations.

(Popova 2005: 396

In synaesthesia there is simultaneous neurological activation of different sense cortexes located in the brain lobes.

This is called “cross wiring” or “cross activation.” (Ramachandran and Hubard 2001: 8-13; Harrison and Baron-

Cohen, 1997; Marks 1997)

)

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στὴ χαραγματιὰ τοῦ σύκου /sti xaraγmatçiá tou síkou/ ‘in the bursting of the fig’

The bursting of the fig can also be a metonymy that denotes the ripeness, as well as the sweetness of the fruit.

Metaphorically, tasting these fruit is receiving love’s pleasure.

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σ᾿ ἕνα βυσσινὶ κεράσι /s éna visiní kerási/

in a morello-colored sweet cherry ‘into a dark-red cherry’βύσσινο κεράσι

/vίsino/ /kerási/

‘morello’ ‘sweet cherry’

The word βυσσινί is used in Greek for dark-red.It literally means ‘morello cherry color’However it is unusual to say ‘βυσσινί κεράσι’. It is more usual to say ‘κατακόκκινο/σκούρο κόκκινο κεράσι’ or ‘ώριμο κεράσι’. The phrase ‘βυσσινί κεράσι’ activates connotation mechanisms for both fruitand there is blending and simultaneous contrast between the sour taste of the morello cherry and the sweet taste of the sweet cherry. Yet, with a second reading of the phrase, the reader can realize that whena sweet cherry has the color of the morello cherry, it is in fact ripe and thus, very sweet.

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The memory of eating ‘roδitis grape’ is not easy to access, since ‘roδitis’ is a variety of grapes mainly used in wine making. It is used particularly for white wine as well as for rosé (pink) wine varieties.

Since this memory of eating ‘roδitis’ does not exist, there are some processes of blending in order to understand the meaning of the line.

These blending processes create emergent meaning.

σὲ μιὰ ρώγα ἀπὸ ροδίτη/se miá róγa apo roδíti/ in a grape of roditis

‘in a rose-colored grape’

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σὲ μιὰ ρώγα ἀπὸ ροδίτη/se miá róγa apo roδíti/ in a grape of roditis

‘in a rose-colored grape’ Ρόδι Ροδίτης

/rόδi/ /roδίtis/

‘Pomegranate’ ‘Roditis’ :

a variety of

pink- skinned grapes

Blending 1: Ρόδι + Ρώγα σταφυλιού Pomegranate + Grape Blending 2: Ροζ ρώγα (θηλή) + Ρώγα σταφυλιού Pink nipple + Pink grape (nipple and grape have the same name in Greek)

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σὲ μιὰ ρώγα ἀπὸ ροδίτη /se miá róγa apo roδíti/ in a grape of roditis

‘in a rose-colored grape’

Blending 3: Eating grape + Drinking wineSince we drink ‘roditis’ and we know the wine, but we do not know the taste of the fruit, the phrase

σὲ μιὰ ρώγα ἀπὸ ροδίτη/ ‘In a grape of roditis’ produces another blend since the reader combines the two inputs (eating grape and drinking wine) in a new, blended conceptualization.

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τόση ἀνάερη Ἀφροδίτη/tósi anáeri afroδíti/

so ethereal an Aphrodite‘so airy an Aphrodite’

Contrast between:AN ETHEREAL GODDESS

andHER HUMAN NEED OF THIRST

THAT GROUNDS HER NEXT TO HUMANS

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θὰ διψάσει θὰ κεράσει /θa dipsási θa kerási/

she will thirst, she will treat/offer‘will thirst, will offer’

When someone thirsts, it is expected that (s)he will drink something [VAGUENESS] to quench his/her thirst. Nevertheless, there is no reference to the Goddess drinking anything. Rather, she offers the lovers something (to drink/or eat). [VAGUENESS]. There is CONTRAST between what is expected to be mentioned and what is actually being mentioned.Besides, the verb ‘thirst’ can function metonymically, too. Hence, it can mean that she will thirst and drink, though only the first part of the process is mentioned [PART FOR WHOLE].

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ἕνα στόμα κι ἄλλο στόμα/ena stóma ki álo stóma/

‘one mouth and another mouth’MetonymyMOUTH STANDS FOR THE LOVER[PART FOR WHOLE]

What will she offer?

Is this food/drink metaphorical?

Is this food/drink love?

MetaphorLOVE IS FOOD/DRINK

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χωρὶς χρῶμα, χωρὶς σῶμα /xorís xróma, xorís sóma/

without colour, without body ‘colorless, bodiless’

Invisible Goddess? Impalpable? A spirit? An idea? An emotion? A bond? Love?

IS THERE CONTRAST ONCE AGAIN ???

The poem closes like a CYCLEand the last line is the same as the first line.

THE REPETITION OF THE FIRST LINE IN THE FINAL LINE ENHANCES THE EFFECT OF CONTRAST IN THE POEM AS A WHOLE.

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Conclusions

The poet uses various cognitive processes and techniques to create an impression, a sense, an emotion.

Metaphor and metonymy play an important role in the poet’s conceptualizations.

However, conceptual blending, synaesthesia, and mainly contrast are responsible for the most intense emotional effects the poem has on the reader.

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Thank you for your attention!!!!!

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