Ivor Armstrong Richards 26 February 1893 – 7 September 1979, known as I. A. Richards, was an English educator, literary critic, and rhetorician. His work contributed to the foundations of the New Criticism, a formalist movement in literary theory which emphasized the close reading of a literary text, especially poetry, in an effort to discover how a work of literature functions as a self-contained and self-referential aesthetic object.
Four Kinds of Meaning:
According to I.A. Richard, words carry four kinds of meaning or to be more precise, the total meaning of a word depends upon four factors, i.e. sense, feeling, tone and intention.
1. Sense
Sense is what is said, or the ‘items’ referred to by a writer.
2. Feeling
Feeling refers to emotions, emotional attitudes, will, desire, pleasure, displeasure and the rest. When we say something we have a feeling about it, “an attitude towards it, some special direction, bias or accentuation of interest towards it, some personal or coloring of feeling”. Words express “these feelings, these nuances of interest”.
3. Tone
Tone is the writer’s attitude to his readers or audience. The use of language is determined by the writer’s ‘recognition’ of his relation to his readers.
4. Intention
Intention is the writer’s aim, which may be conscious or unconscious. It refers to the effect that he tries to produce. This purpose modifies the expression. It controls the emphasis, shapes the arrangement, or draws attention to something of importance.
Poem A Red ,Red Rose
by Robert Burns
O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.
So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.
Verbal Analysis of Poem
There are different kinds of love , love for country, parental love, etc. But in the reference of this poem, it is about romantic love.
In the first stanza, the speaker compares his love to two things. First, he compares her to a fresh red rose, second, he compares her to a nicely played melody.
While the first comparison describes her beauty, the second one tells us about her temperament. She is a very beautiful lady with a nice temperament and a kind heart.
In the second and third stanzas the speaker wants to assure his beloved about his infinite and never ending love for her. In the second stanza, he promises her that he will love her till all the seas go dry, which is impossible. In the third stanza again, he promises to love her till rock melts with the sun.
In the last line of the third stanza we find him telling her that he would love till the last day of his life.
He uses the imagery of seas drying, rocks melting with the sun and, finally 'the sands of life running'.
He uses such imageries to express his unbound and never ending love for her. Through such images he has been successful in expressing his eternal love for her.
Symbolism is the use to represent ideas or qualities. Symbolism gives a symbolic meaning of different from of literal meanings. Here the use of 'red rose' is an example of it. Red rose stands for love and romance. Here rose symbolizes love between the speaker and his beloved.
Imagery is presentation of something that can be understood through five senses. The poet used three (visual) imageries in this poem. They are :
"O my love is like a red, red rose"
"And the rocks melt wi' the sun!"
"While the sands o' life shall run."
Hyperbole is a device used to exaggerate something than it really is.
Here the poet has used hyperbole in two places :
1. "Till a' seas gang dry". This is hyperbole because seas will never dry.
2. "And the rocks melt wi' the sun". This is a hyperbole because rocks never melt.
The tone of this poem is 'exalting love'. It is passionate, loving and celebratory. He tells how much he loves his beloved. In the last stanza he assures her of their infinite love.
Conclusion
Here writer uses figurative language to express his love toward beloved. He compares to ' A Red Red Rose'. And also tells he will love her till the seas becomes dry and rocks melt which is impossible because sea never dry`s and rocks never melt.
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