What do epithets express? Artistic epithets. All metaphors are divided into two groups

29.06.2020

At the word, affecting its expressiveness, the beauty of pronunciation. It is expressed mainly by an adjective, but also by an adverb (“love passionately”), a noun (“fun noise”), a numeral (“second life”).

Having no definite position in the theory of literature, the name "epithet" is applied approximately to those phenomena that are called definitions in syntax, and adjectives in etymology; but the coincidence is only partial.

There is no established view of the epithet in the theory of literature: some attribute it to figures of speech, others consider it, along with figures and tropes, an independent means of poetic representation; some consider the epithet an element of exclusively poetic speech, others find it in prose as well.

This “forgetfulness of the real meaning”, in the terminology of A. H. Veselovsky, is already a secondary phenomenon, but the very appearance of a permanent epithet cannot be considered primary: its constancy, which is usually considered a sign of epic, epic worldview, is the result of selection after some diversity.

It is possible that in the era of the most ancient (syncretic, lyrical-epic) song creativity this constancy did not yet exist: “only later did it become a sign of that typically conditional - and estate - worldview and style, which we consider to be somewhat one-sided, characteristic of the epic and folk poetry" [ ] .

Epithets can be expressed by different parts of speech (mother-Volga, wind-tramp, bright eyes, damp earth). Epithets are a very common concept in literature; it is difficult to imagine a work of art without them.

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✪ What is an epithet? [Lectures on Literature]

✪ Russian language | Preparation for the OGE | Task 3. Means of speech expressiveness

✪ USE 2017. Literature. Epithet

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Dictionaries of Epithets

Epithets of Literary Russian Speech. A. Zelenetsky. 1913

What is one of the main charms of interaction between people? Of course, in communication, exchanging your thoughts, emotions, feelings with each other through language. Now imagine if all our conversations were reduced solely to the transfer of this or that information, bare data without any figurative characteristics and additional meanings that reflect our attitude to what was said. It would be reminiscent of this communication of machines exchanging various combinations of zeros and ones, only instead of numbers - words that do not carry any emotional coloring. The expressiveness of speech is important not only in everyday communication, but also in literature (and here it is "vital"). Agree, it is difficult to imagine a novel, a poem or a fairy tale that does not use figurative definitions and others. That is why epithets are important in our speech, both oral and written. What it is? That is what helps to make the words and phrases used more colorful, more accurately convey their essential features and express our attitude towards them. Next, we will consider this concept in more detail, determine the role and meaning of epithets in speech, and also try to classify them depending on the purposes and features of their application.

The concept of the epithet and the types of its constructions

Let's start by presenting a complete and deeper understanding of the word "epithet": what it is, what structure it has, how it is used in certain situations.

Adjectives as epithets

From the ancient Greek "epithet" is translated as something "attached" or "added" to the main one. And there is. These special expressive words always go as a supplement to others denoting some kind of object (object or subject). Usually this is a "definition + noun" construction, where the epithet is a definition, usually an adjective (but not necessarily). Here are simple examples: black melancholy, dead night, powerful shoulders, sugar lips, a hot kiss, cheerful colors, etc.

In this case, adjectives are epithets that allow us to draw a more complete picture of a particular subject: not just melancholy, but "black", oppressive, impenetrable; not just a kiss, but "hot", passionate, giving pleasure - such a description makes you feel deeper what the author wants to convey, experience some sensations and emotions.

Use of other parts of speech as epithets

However, not only an adjective can play the role of epithets, often adverbs, nouns, pronouns, and even participles and participles (that is, not one word, but a combination of them) act in this "role". Often it is these parts of speech that make it possible to more accurately and vividly convey the image and create the right atmosphere than adjectives would do.

Consider examples of using various parts of speech as epithets:

Adverbs. In a sentence, they are circumstances. Examples: "The grass bloomed merrily" (Turgenev); "And I bitterly complain, and bitterly shed tears" (Pushkin).
Nouns. They give a figurative description of the subject. They act as applications or predicates. Examples: "Oh, cab Mother Volga ran back!" (Tolstoy); "Spring of honor, our idol!" (Pushkin).
Pronouns. They are used as epithets when they express the superlative degree of a phenomenon. Example: "... combat fights ... they say, what else!" (Lermontov).
Communions. Example: "... I, spellbound, breaking the thread of consciousness ..." (Block).
Participle turns. Examples: "Leaf, ringing and dancing in the silence of centuries" (Krasko); "... writers ... who have nothing in their language, except for words that do not remember kinship" (Saltykov-Shchedrin).
Participles and participles. Examples: "... playing hide and seek, the sky comes down from the attic" (Pasternak); "... frolicking and playing, rumbles ..." (Tyutchev).

Thus, epithets in speech can be not only adjectives, but also other parts of speech, if they help convey the image and more accurately express the properties of the described object.

Independent epithets

Rarely, but there are cases when expressive means are used in the text without the main word, epithets act as independent definitions without defined ones. Example: "I am looking for strange and new things on the pages of old written books" (Block). Here the epithets "strange" and "new" play two roles at the same time - both defining and being defined. This technique is typical for the literature of the era of symbolism.

Methods for classifying epithets

So, now we have a fairly clear idea of such an important term in literary theory as epithets. What it is and how it is used, we examined. However, for a better understanding of this phenomenon, it is important to be able to distinguish and classify epithets according to certain criteria. Despite the fact that the main and most important purpose of using these expressive means always comes down to one thing - to describe, to give an artistic definition to an object or phenomenon, all epithets can be classified. They are divided into groups according to different parameters, which we will consider below.

Types of epithets in terms of genetics

The first group divides epithets into types depending on the genetic origin:

general language (decorating);
folk-poetic (permanent);
individually-author's.

General language, they are also called decorating, are any characteristics that describe objects and phenomena and their properties. Examples: gentle sea, deathly silence, leaden clouds, ringing silence, etc. We usually use them in everyday speech in order to better convey the atmosphere of the event / object being described and our feelings to the interlocutor.

Folk poetic, or permanent, epithets are words or whole expressions that for many years have been firmly entrenched in the minds of people for some specific words. Examples: good fellow, red maiden, clear moon, open field and others.

Individually-author's epithets are a product of the creative thought of the author himself. That is, previously these words or phrases were not used in speech in this sense, and therefore were not epithets. There are a lot of them in fiction, especially in poetry. Examples: "the face of a thousand-eyed trust..." (Mayakovsky); "transparent flattery necklace", "golden rosary of wisdom" (Pushkin); "... an eternal motive in the middle of life" (Brodsky).

Epithets based on metaphor and metonymy

It is possible to divide epithets into groups on another basis. Since figurative epithets are often associated with the use of words in a figurative sense, then, depending on the type of this figurative word (which is an epithet), we can distinguish:

metaphorical;
metonymic.

Metaphorical epithets, as the name already implies, are based on "light patterns", "winter silver" (Pushkin); "dismal, sad friendship", "sad, mournful reflection" (Herzen); "barren fields" (Lermontov).

Metonymic epithets are based on the figurative metonymic meaning of the word. Examples: "her hot, scratchy whisper" (Bitter); "birch, cheerful language" (Yesenin).

In addition, epithets based on a metaphorical or metonymic meaning can incorporate the properties of other tropes: combined with hyperbole, personification and other

Examples: "Loudly winged arrows, beating behind the shoulders, sounded / In the procession of an angry god: he walked, like the night" (Homer); “He cursed, begged, cut / climbed after someone to bite into his sides. / Red in the sky, like the Marseillaise / shuddered, round, the sunset” (Mayakovsky).

Such use of epithets makes it possible to express the perception of some phenomena/objects by the author even brighter, stronger, more accurately and convey these feelings to readers or listeners.

Epithets from the point of view of the author's assessment

Epithets can be divided into groups depending on how the author's assessment is expressed in the work:

pictorial;
expressive.

The former are used to express features and focus on some significant differences, properties of the subject without expressing the author's assessment of it. Examples: "... in the autumn twilight, how ghostly the transparency of the garden reigns" (Brodsky); "Your fences have a cast-iron pattern / And a blue punch flame" (Pushkin).

Expressive epithets (as the name already implies) give readers the opportunity to hear the author's attitude, his clearly expressed assessment of the described object or phenomenon. Examples: "meaningless and dim light" (Block); "the heart is a cold piece of iron" (Mayakovsky).

However, it should be noted that such a division is very conditional, since often pictorial epithets also have an emotional color and are a consequence of the author's perception of certain objects.

The evolution of the use of epithets in literature

Arguing about what epithets are in literature, one cannot help but touch on the topic of their evolution over time. They are constantly undergoing changes both historically and culturally. In addition, epithets differ depending on the geography (place of residence) of the people who created them. Our upbringing, the features and conditions of life, the events and phenomena experienced, the experience gained - all this affects the images created in speech, as well as the meaning that is embedded in them.

Epithets and Russian folk art

Epithets - what are these images in oral folk art? At an early stage in the development of literature, epithets, as a rule, described some physical properties of objects and singled out essential, key features in them. The emotional component and the expression of attitude towards the described object faded into the background or were completely absent. In addition, folk epithets were distinguished by exaggeration of the properties of objects and phenomena. Examples: good fellow, untold wealth, etc.

Epithets of the Silver Age and postmodernism

With the passage of time and the development of literature, epithets became more complex, their constructions changed, and their role in works changed. The novelty of the poetic language, and hence the use of epithets, is especially well seen in the literary works of the Silver Age. Wars, rapid scientific and technological progress and related changes in the world led to changes in the worldview of man. Writers and poets set off in search of new literary forms. Hence - the appearance of a large number of "own" (that is, author's) words due to the violation of the usual morphemes, stem connections, new forms of words and new ways of combining them.

Examples: "Curls sleep on the shoulders of snowy whiteness" (Ants); "Laughers ... who laugh with laughter, who laugh with laughter, oh, laugh with laughter!" (Khlebnikov).

A lot of interesting examples in the use of words and the unusual depiction of objects can be found in Mayakovsky's work. What is the poem "Violin and a little tenderly" worth, in which "the drum ... darted at the burning Kuznetsky and left", "the silly cymbal clanged out", "the helikon-copper-faced" shouted something to the violin, etc.

Notable in terms of the use of epithets is the literature of postmodernism. This trend (which arose in the 1940s and received its greatest dawn in the 1980s) opposes itself to realism (especially socialist realism), which dominated Russia until the end of the 1970s. Representatives of postmodernism reject the rules and norms developed by cultural traditions. In their work, the boundaries between reality and fiction, reality and art are erased. Hence - a large number of new verbal forms and techniques, a curious and very interesting use of epithets.

Examples: "Diathesis bloomed / Diapers were golden" (Kibrov); "An acacia branch ... smells of creosote, tambour dust ... in the evening it tiptoes back into the garden and listens to the movement of electric trains" (Sokolov).

The works of the era of postmodernism are replete with examples of what epithets are in the literature of our time. One has only to read such authors as Sokolov (an example is presented above), Strochkov, Levin, Sorokin, and others.

Fairy tales and their characteristic epithets

A special place is occupied by epithets in fairy tales. Folklore works of different times and different peoples of the world contain a lot of examples of the use of epithets. So, for example, Russian folk tales are characterized by the frequent use of distance epithets, as well as definitions describing the surrounding nature. Examples: "clear field, dark forest, high mountains"; "for distant lands, in a distant state" ("Finist - a clear falcon", Russian folk tale).

But Iranian fairy tales, for example, are characterized by oriental imagery, rich in various epithets ornate speech. Examples: "... a pious and wise sultan, delving into state affairs with extraordinary care ..." ("The History of Sultan Sanjar").

So, on the example of epithets used in folk art, one can trace the cultural characteristics inherent in a particular people.

Epithets in epics and myths of different peoples of the world

At the same time, folklore works from different countries of the world are characterized by common features of the use of epithets that serve a specific purpose. This is easy to follow on the example of ancient Greek myths, Celtic legends and Russian epics. All these works are united by the metaphorical and fantastic nature of events; epithets with a negative connotation are used to describe frightening places, events or phenomena.

Examples: "boundless dark Chaos" (ancient Greek myths), "wild cries, monstrous laughter" (Celtic legends), "filthy idol" (Russian epics). Such epithets serve not only for a vivid description of places and phenomena, but also for the formation of a special perception, the reader's attitude to what he has read.

How rich is the Russian language? Epithets and their role in colloquial and artistic speech

Let's start with a simple example. Short two-sentence dialogue: "Hi son. I'm on my way home. How are you? What are you doing?" - "Hi, mom. Good. I ate the soup." This conversation is a dry exchange of information: mother is going home, the child has eaten soup. Such communication does not carry any emotions, does not create a mood, and, one might say, does not give us any information about the feelings and the real state of affairs of the interlocutors.

Another thing is if epithets "intervene" in the process of communication. What does it change? Example: "Hi, my sweet son. I'm going home tired and exhausted like a dog. How are you? What are you doing?" - "Hello, dear mommy. I had a hot day today, in a good way! I ate the soup, it was great." This example answers very well the question of why epithets are so important in modern speech, even if this is an ordinary everyday conversation. Agree, from such a conversation it is much easier to understand what mood each of the interlocutors is in: the mother will be glad that her son is doing well, and pleased that he liked the soup; the son, in turn, will understand that mom is tired, and will warm up dinner for her arrival, or do something else useful. And all this thanks to epithets!

Epithet in Russian: the role and examples of use in artistic speech

Let's move on from the simple to the complex. In artistic speech, epithets are no less, and perhaps even more important. Not a single literary work will be interesting and will not be able to captivate the reader if it contains few epithets (with rare exceptions, of course). In addition to the fact that they allow you to make the image of the depicted phenomena, objects brighter and more expressive, epithets also play other roles in:

Emphasize some characteristic features and properties of the described object. Examples: "yellow beam", "wild cave", "smooth skull" (Lermontov).
Explain, clarify the features that distinguish the object (for example, color, size, etc.). Example: "Forest ... purple, gold, crimson ..." (Bunin).
They are used as a basis for creating an oxymoron by combining words that are contrasting in meaning. Examples: "brilliant shadow", "wretched luxury".
They allow the author to express his attitude to the described phenomenon, give his assessment and convey this perception to readers. Example: "We value the prophetic word, and we honor the Russian word" (Sergeev-Tsensky).
Helps create a vivid representation of the subject. Example: "... spring, the first ringing ... rumbles in the blue sky" (Tyutchev).
They create a certain atmosphere, cause the desired emotional state. Example: "... lonely and alien to everything, walking alone along an abandoned high road" (Tolstoy).
They form in readers a certain attitude towards a phenomenon, object or character. Examples: "A rustic peasant is riding, and a peasant is sitting on a good horse" (Russian epic); "Onegin was in the opinion of many ... / A small scientist, but a pedant" (Pushkin).

Thus, the role of epithets in fiction is priceless. It is these expressive words that make works, whether it be a poem, a poem, a story or a novel, lively, fascinating, capable of evoking certain emotions, moods, and assessments. We can safely say that there would be no epithets, the very possibility of the existence of literature as an art would be called into question.

Conclusion

In this article, we tried to most fully answer the question of whether, and considered various ways of classifying these expressive means, and also talked about the role of epithets in life and work. We hope this helped you expand your understanding of such an important term in literary theory as epithet.

In the task it is necessary to reveal the definition of the term "epithet" and give examples.

Definition of an epithet

Epithets are bright colorful definitions of an object, action or phenomenon. Most often, epithets are adjectives (what? what? what? what?), but they can also be other parts of speech. Epithets are a means of expression, and not a single literary text can do without them. Epithets are used in poems, prose, are found in all forms of literature.

Most often, epithets are used to describe something or someone. Without epithets, our speech would be dry, primitive.

But even here one must be careful not to confuse the epithet with a simple adjective. For example, "green (grass)" - "emerald (grass)". In the first case

The epithet, as it were, embellishes, makes the described object brighter.

In order not to confuse the epithet and a simple adjective, you can cheat a little. For example, let's take the phrases "yellow autumn" and "golden autumn". In the first phrase "yellow autumn" there is no epithet, but in the second, autumn is compared with gold. "Golden autumn - autumn like gold." Thus, the epithet is a figurative comparison. For example, an affectionate child is a child who knows how to express affection, bitter truth is bitter truth, grave silence is silence, like in a coffin, velvet skin is skin that looks like velvet, a beautiful girl is a girl. having beauty. And for phrases like "big house", "red ribbon", "crumpled paper" it is impossible to find a comparative turnover, respectively, they will not be epithets.

examples of epithets. How to find an epithet in a text

For example, let's take a small excerpt from a poem by F. Tyutchev.

Is in the autumn of the original
Short but wonderful time -
The whole day stands as if crystal,
And radiant evenings...

Find epithets:

marvelous time (time is compared with a diva);
crystal day (the day is compared with crystal);
radiant evenings (evenings are compared with the rays of dawn).

It should also be remembered that adjectives in the expressions "red sun", "red girl", "good fellow" will also be epithets.

In vocabulary, the main means of expression are trails(translated from Greek - turn, turn, image) - special figurative and expressive means of the language, based on the use of words in a figurative sense.

The main types of tropes include: epithet, comparison, metaphor, personification, metonymy, synecdoche, paraphrase (periphrase), hyperbole, litote, irony.

Special lexical figurative and expressive means of language (tropes)

Epithet(translated from Greek - application, addition) is a figurative definition that marks a feature that is essential for a given context in the depicted phenomenon.

From a simple definition, the epithet differs in artistic expressiveness and figurativeness. The epithet is based on a hidden comparison.

Epithets include all "colorful" definitions, which are most often expressed by adjectives.

For example: sadly orphaned Earth(F. I. Tyutchev), gray fog, lemon light, silent peace(I. A. Bunin).

Epithets can also be expressed:

- nouns , acting as applications or predicates, giving a figurative description of the subject.

For example: sorceress - winter; mother - cheese earth; The poet is a lyre, not just the nurse of his soul(M. Gorky);

- adverbs acting as circumstances.

For example: In the wild stands alone in the north ...(M. Yu. Lermontov); The leaves were stretched tensely in the wind(K. G. Paustovsky);

- gerunds .

For example: the waves rush roaring and sparkling;

- pronouns expressing the superlative degree of this or that state of the human soul.

For example: After all, there were fighting fights, Yes, they say, some more!(M. Yu. Lermontov);

- participles and participle turnovers .

For example: Nightingales with rumbling words announce the forest limits(B. L. Pasternak); I also admit the appearance of ... scribblers who cannot prove where they spent the night yesterday, and who have no other words in the language, except for words, not remembering kinship (M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin).

The creation of figurative epithets is usually associated with the use of words in a figurative sense.

From the point of view of the type of figurative meaning of the word, acting as an epithet, all epithets are divided into:

metaphorical (They are based on a metaphorical figurative meaning.

For example: golden cloud, bottomless sky, lilac fog, walking cloud and standing tree.

Metaphorical epithets- a striking sign of the author's style:

You are my cornflower blue word
I love you forever.
How does our cow live now,
Sadness straw pulling?
(S.A. Yesenin. “I haven’t seen such beautiful ones?”);

How greedily the world of the night soul
Heeds the story of his beloved!
(Tyutchev. “What are you howling about, night wind?”).

metonymic (They are based on a metonymic figurative meaning.

For example: suede gait(V. V. Nabokov); scratchy look(M. Gorky); birch cheerful language(S. A. Yesenin).

From a genetic point of view epithets are divided into:

- general language (deathly silence, lead waves),

- folk-poetic (permanent) ( red sun, violent wind, good fellow).

In poetic folklore, the epithet, which, together with the defined word, constitutes a stable phrase, performed, in addition to the content, mnemonic function (gr. mnemo nicon- the art of memory).

Constant epithets made it easier for the singer, the narrator to perform the work. Any folklore text is saturated with such, for the most part, "decorating" epithets.

« In folklore, - writes the literary critic V.P. Anikin, - the girl is always red, well done - kind, father - dear, kids - small, youngster - remote, body - white, hands - white, tears - combustible, voice - loud, bow - low, table - oak, wine - green, vodka - sweet, eagle - gray, flower - scarlet, stone - combustible, sands - loose, night - dark, forest - stagnant, mountains - steep, forests - dense, cloud - formidable , the winds are violent, the field is clean, the sun is red, the bow is tight, the tavern is the king, the saber is sharp, the wolf is gray, etc.»

Depending on the genre, the selection of epithets has changed somewhat. Recreation of style, or stylization of folklore genres, involves the widespread use of constant epithets. Yes, they abound A song about Tsar Ivan Vasilievich, a young guardsman and a daring merchant Kalashnikov» Lermontov: the sun is red, the clouds are blue, the golden crown, the formidable king, the daring fighter, the thought is strong, the thought is black, the heart is hot, the shoulders are heroic, the saber is sharp etc.

The epithet can incorporate the properties of many trails . Based on metaphor or at metonymy , it can also be combined with the personification ... foggy and quiet azure over sadly orphaned earth(F. I. Tyutchev), hyperbole (Autumn already knows what deep and mute peace is - A harbinger of a long bad weather(I. A. Bunin) and other paths and figures.

The role of epithets in the text

All epithets as bright, "illuminating" definitions are aimed at enhancing the expressiveness of the images of the depicted objects or phenomena, at highlighting their most significant features.

In addition, epithets can:

Strengthen, emphasize any characteristic features of objects.

For example: Wandering among the rocks, a yellow ray crept into the wild cave And illuminated the smooth skull...(M. Yu. Lermontov);

Clarify the distinguishing features of the object (shape, color, size, quality):

For example: Forest, like a painted tower, Lilac, gold, crimson, Cheerful, motley wall Stands over a bright glade(I. A. Bunin);

Create word combinations that are contrasting in meaning and serve as the basis for creating an oxymoron: squalid luxury(L. N. Tolstoy), brilliant shadow(E. A. Baratynsky);

To convey the attitude of the author to the depicted, to express the author's assessment and the author's perception of the phenomenon: ... Dead words smell bad(N. S. Gumilyov); And we value the prophetic word, and we honor the Russian word, And we will not change the power of the word.(S. N. Sergeev-Tsensky); What does it mean smiling blessing heaven, this happy resting earth?(I. S. Turgenev)

Figurative epithets highlight the essential aspects of the depicted without introducing a direct assessment (“ in the blue fog of the sea», « in the dead sky" etc.).

In expressive (lyric) epithets , on the contrary, the relation to the depicted phenomenon is clearly expressed (“ flickering images of crazy people», « tedious night story»).

It should be borne in mind that this division is rather arbitrary, since pictorial epithets also have an emotional and evaluative meaning.

Epithets are widely used in artistic and journalistic, as well as in colloquial and popular science styles of speech.

Comparison- This is a visual technique based on the comparison of one phenomenon or concept with another.

Unlike metaphor comparison is always binomial : it names both compared objects (phenomena, signs, actions).

For example: Villages are burning, they have no protection. The sons of the fatherland are defeated by the enemy, And the glow, like an eternal meteor, Playing in the clouds, frightens the eye.(M. Yu. Lermontov)

Comparisons are expressed in various ways:

Form of the instrumental case of nouns.

For example: Nightingale stray Youth flew by, Wave in bad weather Joy subsided.(A. V. Koltsov) The moon slides like a pancake in sour cream.(B. Pasternak) Leaves flew like stars.(D. Samoilov) Flying rain sparkles golden in the sun.(V. Nabokov) Icicles hang like glass fringes.(I. Shmelev) A patterned clean towel A rainbow hangs from the birches.(N. Rubtsov)

The form of the comparative degree of an adjective or adverb.

For example: These eyes are greener than the sea and darker than our cypresses.(A. Akhmatova) Girl's eyes are brighter than roses.(A. S. Pushkin) But the eyes are blue of the day.(S. Yesenin) Bushes of mountain ash are more foggy than depth.(S. Yesenin) Freer youth.(A. S. Pushkin) The truth is more valuable than gold.(Proverb) Lighter than the sun is the throne room. M. Tsvetaeva)

Comparative turnovers with unions like, like, like, like and etc.

For example: Like a predatory animal, into a humble abode The winner bursts with bayonets ...(M. Yu. Lermontov) April looks at a bird's flight With eyes as blue as ice.(D. Samoilov) Here every village is so loving, As if in it the beauty of the whole universe. (A. Yashin) And stand behind the oak nets Like the evil spirits of the forest, stumps.(S. Yesenin) Like a bird in a cage, The heart jumps.(M. Yu. Lermontov) my verses, like precious wines, It will be your turn.(M. I. Tsvetaeva) It's close to noon. The fire is burning. Like a plowman, the battle rests. (A. S. Pushkin) The past, like the bottom of the sea, Spreads like a pattern in the distance.(V. Bryusov)

Beyond the river in restlessness
cherry blossomed,
Like snow across the river
Filled the stitch.
Like light blizzards
Rushed with all their might
Like swans were flying
Dropped fluff.(A. Prokofiev)

With the help of words similar, like this.

For example: Your eyes look like the eyes of a cautious cat(A. Akhmatova);

With the help of comparative clauses.

For example: Golden foliage swirled in pinkish water on the pond, Like butterflies, a light flock With fading flies to the star. (S. A. Yesenin) The rain sows, sows, sows, It has been drizzling since midnight, Like a muslin curtain Hanging behind the windows. (V. Tushnova) Heavy snow, spinning, covered the Sunless heights, As if hundreds of white wings flew silently. (V. Tushnova) Like a tree shedding its leaves So I drop sad words.(S. Yesenin) How the king loved rich palaces So I fell in love with the ancient roads And the blue eyes of eternity!(N. Rubtsov)

Comparisons can be direct andnegative

Negative comparisons are especially characteristic of oral folk poetry and can serve as a way to stylize the text.

For example: It's not a horse top, not human talk... (A. S. Pushkin)

A special type of comparison is extended comparisons, with the help of which entire texts can be built.

For example, the poem by F. I. Tyutchev " Like hot ashes...»:
Like hot ashes
The scroll smokes and burns
And the fire is hidden and deaf
Words and lines devour -

So sadly my life is smoldering
And every day the smoke goes away
So gradually I go out
In unbearable monotony! ..

Oh Heaven, if only once
This flame developed at will -
And, without languishing, without tormenting the share,
I would shine - and went out!

The role of comparisons in the text

Comparisons, like epithets, are used in the text in order to enhance its figurativeness and figurativeness, create more vivid, expressive images and highlight, emphasize any significant features of the depicted objects or phenomena, as well as to express the author's assessments and emotions.

For example:
I like it my friend
When the word melts
And when it sings
Heat pours over the line,
So that words blush from words,
So that they, going in flight,
Curled, fought to sing,
To eat like honey.
(A. A. Prokofiev);

In every soul it seems to live, burn, glow, like a star in the sky, and, like a star, it goes out when it, having completed its life path, flies from our lips ... It happens that an extinguished star for us, people on earth, burns for another thousand years. (M. M. Prishvin)

Comparisons as a means of linguistic expressiveness can be used not only in literary texts, but also in journalistic, colloquial, scientific ones.

Metaphor(translated from Greek - transfer) is a word or expression that is used in a figurative sense based on the similarity of two objects or phenomena on some basis. It is sometimes said that a metaphor is a hidden comparison.

For example, a metaphor Red rowan bonfire burns in the garden (S. Yesenin) contains a comparison of rowan brushes with a fire flame.

Many metaphors have become commonplace in everyday use and therefore do not attract attention, have lost imagery in our perception.

For example: bank burst, dollar circulation, dizzy and etc.

In contrast to comparison, in which both what is being compared and what is being compared is given, a metaphor contains only the second, which creates compactness and figurativeness of the use of the word.

The metaphor can be based on the similarity of objects in shape, color, volume, purpose, sensations, etc.

For example: a waterfall of stars, an avalanche of letters, a wall of fire, an abyss of grief, a pearl of poetry, a spark of love and etc.

All metaphors are divided into two groups:

1) general language ("erased")

For example: golden hands, a storm in a teacup, move mountains, strings of the soul, love faded ;

2) artistic (individual-author's, poetic)

For example: And the stars fade diamond thrill in the painless cold of dawn (M. Voloshin); Empty skies clear glass(A. Akhmatova); And blue eyes, bottomless bloom on the far shore. (A. A. Blok)

Metaphors of Sergei Yesenin: bonfire of red mountain ash, birch cheerful tongue of the grove, chintz of the sky; or September's bloody tears, overgrowth of raindrops, lantern buns and roof tops at Boris Pasternak
The metaphor is paraphrased into a comparison using auxiliary words. like, like, like, like etc.

There are several types of metaphor: erased, expanded, realized.

Erased - a common metaphor, the figurative meaning of which is no longer felt.

For example: chair leg, headboard, sheet of paper, clock hand etc.

A whole work or a large excerpt from it can be built on a metaphor. Such a metaphor is called "unfolded", in which the image "unfolds", that is, it is revealed in detail.

So, the poem by A.S. Pushkin “ Prophet"is an example of an extended metaphor. The transformation of the lyrical hero into the herald of the will of the Lord - the poet-prophet, his quenching " spiritual thirst", that is, the desire to know the meaning of being and find one's calling, is depicted by the poet gradually: " six-winged seraph", the messenger of God, transformed the hero of his" right hand"- the right hand, which was an allegory of strength and power. By God's power, the lyrical hero received a different vision, a different hearing, other mental and spiritual abilities. He could " heed”, that is, to comprehend the sublime, heavenly values \u200b\u200band earthly, material existence, to feel the beauty of the world and its suffering. Pushkin depicts this beautiful and painful process, “ stringing"one metaphor to another: the hero's eyes acquire eagle vigilance, his ears fill" noise and ringing"of life, the language ceases to be "idle and crafty", passing on the wisdom received as a gift, " quivering heart" turns into " coal burning with fire". The chain of metaphors is held together by the general idea of the work: the poet, as Pushkin wanted to see him, should be a herald of the future and an exposer of human vices, inspire people with his word, encourage goodness and truth.

Examples of an extended metaphor are often found in poetry and prose (the main part of the metaphor is marked in italics, its “deployment” is underlined):
... let's say goodbye together,
O my light youth!
Thanks for the pleasure
For sadness, for sweet torment,
For noise, for storms, for feasts,
For everything, for all your gifts...
A.S. Pushkin " Eugene Onegin"

We drink from the cup of life
With closed eyes...
Lermontov "Cup of Life"

…boy caught by love
To a girl wrapped in silks...
N. Gumilyov " Eagle of Sinbad"

The golden grove dissuaded
Birch cheerful language.
S. Yesenin " The golden grove dissuaded…"

Sad, and crying, and laughing,
The streams of my poems are ringing
At your feet
And every verse
Runs, weaves a living ligature,
Their not knowing the shores.
A. Blok " Sad, and crying, and laughing..."

Save my speech forever for the taste of misfortune and smoke ...
O. Mandelstam " Save my speech forever…"

... seethed, washing away the kings,
July Curve Street...
O. Mandelstam " I pray like pity and mercy..."

Here the wind embraces a flock of waves with a strong embrace and throws them on a grand scale in wild anger on the rocks, breaking the emerald bulks into dust and spray.
M. Gorky " Song of the Petrel"

The sea has woken up. It played in small waves, giving birth to them, decorating with fringed foam, pushing against each other and breaking them into fine dust.
M. Gorky " Chelkash"

Realized - metaphor , which again acquires a direct meaning. The result of this process at the everyday level is often comical:

For example: I lost my temper and got on the bus

The exam will not take place: all tickets are sold.

If you've gone into yourself, don't come back empty-handed etc.

The simple-hearted joker-gravedigger in the tragedy of W. Shakespeare " Hamlet”to the question of the protagonist about,“ on what ground"lost his mind" the young prince, replies: " In our Danish". He understands the word the soil"literally - the top layer of the earth, the territory, while Hamlet means figuratively - for what reason, as a result of which.

« Oh, you are heavy, Monomakh's hat! "- the tsar complains in the tragedy of A.S. Pushkin" Boris Godunov". The crown of Russian tsars since the time of Vladimir Monomakh has been in the form of a hat. It was adorned with precious stones, so it was "heavy" in the literal sense of the word. In a figurative way - Monomakh's hat» personified « heaviness”, the responsibility of the royal power, the heavy duties of the autocrat.

In the novel by A.S. Pushkin " Eugene Onegin» An important role is played by the image of the Muse, which since ancient times has personified the source of poetic inspiration. The expression "the muse visited the poet" has a figurative meaning. But Muse - the poet's friend and inspirer - appears in the novel in the form of a living woman, young, beautiful, cheerful. AT " student cell» Precisely Muse « opened a feast of young inventions- pranks and serious disputes about life. It is she who " sang"Everything that the young poet aspired to - earthly passions and desires: friendship, a cheerful feast, thoughtless joy -" children's fun". Muse, " how the bacchante frolicked", and the poet was proud of his" windy girlfriend».

During the southern exile, Muse appeared as a romantic heroine - a victim of her pernicious passions, resolute, capable of reckless rebellion. Her image helped the poet create an atmosphere of mystery and mystery in his poems:

How often l asce Muse
I delighted the dumb way
By the magic of a secret story!..

At the turning point of the author's creative quest, it was she who
She appeared as a county lady,
With sad thoughts in my eyes...

Throughout the entire work affectionate Muse"was correct" girlfriend» poet.

The realization of a metaphor is often found in the poetry of V. Mayakovsky. So, in the poem A cloud in pants" it implements the running expression " nerves went wild" or " nerves are naughty»:
Hear:
quiet,
like a sick person out of bed
nerve jumped.
here, -
first walked
barely,
then he ran
excited,
clear.
Now he and the new two
rushing about in a desperate tap dance ...
Nerves -
big,
small,
many -
jumping mad,
and already
the nerves give way to the legs!

It should be remembered that the boundary between different types of metaphor is very conditional, unsteady, and it can be difficult to accurately determine the type.

The role of metaphors in the text

Metaphor is one of the brightest and most powerful means of creating expressiveness and figurativeness of the text.

Through the metaphorical meaning of words and phrases, the author of the text not only enhances the visibility and visibility of what is depicted, but also conveys the uniqueness, individuality of objects or phenomena, while showing the depth and nature of his own associative-figurative thinking, vision of the world, the measure of talent (“The most important thing is to be skillful in metaphors. Only this cannot be adopted from another - this is a sign of talent "(Aristotle).

Metaphors serve as an important means of expressing the author's assessments and emotions, the author's characteristics of objects and phenomena.

For example: I feel stuffy in this atmosphere! Kites! Owl nest! Crocodiles!(A.P. Chekhov)

In addition to artistic and journalistic styles, metaphors are characteristic of colloquial and even scientific style (" the ozone hole », « electron cloud " and etc.).

personification- this is a kind of metaphor based on the transfer of signs of a living being to natural phenomena, objects and concepts.

Often personifications are used in describing nature.

For example:
Rolling through sleepy valleys
Sleepy mists lay down,
And only the stomp of a horse,
Sounding, is lost in the distance.
Extinguished, turning pale, the day autumn,
Rolling fragrant leaves,
Eating dreamless sleep
Semi-withered flowers.
(M. Yu. Lermontov)

Less often, personifications are associated with the objective world.

For example:
Isn't it true, never again
We won't break up? Enough?..
And the violin answered Yes,
But the heart of the violin was in pain.
The bow understood everything, it calmed down,
And in the violin, the echo kept everything ...
And it was a pain for them
What people thought was music.
(I. F. Annensky);

There was something good-natured and at the same time cozy in face of this house. (D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak)

Avatars- the paths are very old, with their roots in pagan antiquity and therefore occupy such an important place in mythology and folklore. The Fox and the Wolf, the Hare and the Bear, the epic Serpent Gorynych and the Poganoe Idolishche - all these and other fantastic and zoological characters of fairy tales and epics are familiar to us from early childhood.

One of the literary genres closest to folklore, the fable, is based on personification.

Even today, without personification, it is unthinkable to imagine works of art; without them, our everyday speech is unthinkable.

Figurative speech not only visually represents thought. Its advantage is that it is shorter. Instead of describing the subject in detail, we can compare it with an already known subject.

It is impossible to imagine poetic speech without using this technique:
"The storm covers the sky with mist
Whirlwinds of snow twisting,
Like a beast, she will howl,
He will cry like a child."(A.S. Pushkin)

The role of personifications in the text

Personifications serve to create vivid, expressive and figurative pictures of something, to enhance the transmitted thoughts and feelings.

Personification as an expressive means is used not only in the artistic style, but also in journalistic and scientific.

For example: X-ray shows, the device speaks, the air heals, something stirred in the economy.

The most common metaphors are formed on the principle of personification, when an inanimate object acquires the properties of an animate one, as if acquiring a face.

1. Usually, the two components of a metaphor-personification are the subject and the predicate: the blizzard was angry», « the golden cloud spent the night», « waves are playing».

« get angry", that is, only a person can experience irritation, but" winter storm", a blizzard, plunging the world into cold and darkness, also brings" evil". « spend the night", sleep peacefully at night, only living beings are capable," cloud"But personifies a young woman who has found an unexpected shelter. Marine « waves"in the imagination of the poet" play', like children.

We often find examples of metaphors of this type in the poetry of A.S. Pushkin:
Not suddenly raptures will leave us ...
A death dream flies over him ...
My days are gone...
The spirit of life woke up in him...
Fatherland caressed you ...
Poetry awakens in me...

2. Many metaphors-personifications are built according to the method of management: “ lyre singing», « the voice of the waves», « fashion darling», « happiness darling" and etc.

A musical instrument is like a human voice, and it too " sings”, and the splashing of the waves resembles a quiet conversation. " favorite», « minion"are not only in people, but also in the wayward" fashion"or changeable" happiness».

For example: “Winters of threat”, “Abyss of voice”, “joy of sadness”, “day of despondency”, “son of laziness”, “threads ... of fun”, “brother by muse, by fate”, “victim of slander”, “cathedral wax faces ”, “Joy language”, “mourn the burden”, “hope of young days”, “pages of malice and vice”, “shrine voice”, “by the will of passions”.

But there are metaphors formed differently. The criterion of difference here is the principle of animation and inanimateness. An inanimate object does NOT gain the properties of an animate object.

one). Subject and predicate: “ Desire is seething”, “Eyes are burning”, “Heart is empty”.

Desire in a person can manifest itself to a strong degree, seethe and " boil". Eyes, betraying excitement, shine and " are burning". Heart, soul, not warmed by feeling, can become " empty».

For example: “I learned grief early, I was comprehended by persecution”, “our youth will not suddenly fade”, “noon ... burned”, “the moon floats”, “conversations flow”, “stories spread out”, “love ... faded away”, “I call the shadow "," life fell.

2). Phrases built according to the method of management can also, being metaphors, NOT be personification: “ dagger of treachery», « glory tomb», « chain of clouds" and etc.

Steel arms - " dagger" - kills a person, but " treason"is like a dagger and can also destroy, break life. " Tomb"- this is a crypt, a grave, but not only people can be buried, but also glory, worldly love. " Chain" consists of metal links, but " clouds”, whimsically intertwining, form a semblance of a chain in the sky.

For example: “flattering necklaces”, “twilight of freedom”, “forest ... voices”, “clouds of arrows”, “noise of poetry”, “bell of brotherhood”, “poems incandescence”, “fire ... black eyes”, “salt of solemn insults”, “ the science of parting”, “the flame of southern blood” .

Many metaphors of this kind are formed according to the principle of reification, when the word being defined receives the properties of some substance, material: "windows crystal", "gold hair" .

On a sunny day, the window seems to sparkle like " crystal", and the hair takes on the color" gold". Here, the hidden comparison embedded in the metaphor is especially noticeable.

For example: "in the black velvet of the Soviet night, In the velvet of the world's emptiness", "poems ... grape meat", "crystal of high notes", "poems with rattling pearls".

Epithet (from other Greek ἐπίθετον - “attached”) is a definition of a word that affects its expressiveness, the beauty of pronunciation. It is expressed mainly by an adjective, but also by an adverb (“to love passionately”), a noun (“fun noise”), a numeral (“second life”).
Having no definite position in the theory of literature, the name "epithet" is applied approximately to those phenomena that are called definitions in syntax, and adjectives in etymology; but the coincidence is only partial.
There is no established view of the epithet in the theory of literature: some attribute it to figures of speech, others consider it, along with figures and tropes, an independent means of poetic representation; some consider the epithet an element of exclusively poetic speech, others find it in prose as well.
Alexander Veselovsky described several moments in the history of the epithet, which, however, is only an artificially selected fragment of the general history of style.
Literary theory deals only with the so-called embellishing epithet (epitheton ornans). This name originates from the old theory, which saw in the methods of poetic thinking the means to decorate poetic speech, however, only the phenomena designated by this name represent a category distinguished by the theory of literature in the term "epithet".
Just as not every epithet has the form of a grammatical definition, so not every grammatical definition is an epithet: a definition that narrows the scope of the concept being defined is not an epithet.
Logic distinguishes between synthetic judgments - those in which the predicate names a sign that is not included in the subject (this mountain is high) and analytical - those in which the predicate only reveals a sign that is already in the subject (people are mortal).
Transferring this difference to grammatical definitions, we can say that only analytical definitions bear the name of the epithet: “scattered storm”, “crimson beret” are not epithets, but “clear azure”, “long-length spear”, “London scrupulous” - epithets, because clarity is a constant sign of azure, scrupulousness is a sign extracted from the analysis of the poet's idea of London.
The epithet - the beginning of the decomposition of a fused complex of ideas - highlights a sign already given in the word being defined, since this is necessary for consciousness that understands phenomena; the sign he singles out may seem insignificant, accidental, but it is not so for the creative thought of the author.
Bylina constantly calls the saddle Cherkassy, not in order to distinguish this saddle from others, not Cherkasy, but because this is the saddle of a hero, the best that a people-poet can imagine: this is not a simple definition, but a technique of stylistic idealization. Like other techniques - conditional turns, typical formulas - the epithet in ancient songwriting easily became constant, invariably repeated with a well-known word (hands are white, a beautiful girl) and so closely bonded with it that even contradictions and absurdities do not overcome this constancy (“ hands are white" are at the "Arapin", Tsar Kalin is a "dog" not only in the mouths of his enemies, but also in the speech of his ambassador to Prince Vladimir).
This “forgetfulness of the real meaning”, in the terminology of A. H. Veselovsky, is already a secondary phenomenon, but the very appearance of a permanent epithet cannot be considered primary: its constancy, which is usually considered a sign of epic, epic worldview, is the result of selection after some diversity.
It is possible that in the era of the most ancient (syncretic, lyrical-epic) song creativity this constancy did not yet exist: “only later did it become a sign of that typically conditional - and estate - worldview and style, which we consider to be somewhat one-sided, characteristic of the epic and folk poetry."
Epithets can be expressed by different parts of speech (mother-Volga, wind-tramp, bright eyes, damp earth). Epithets are a very common concept in literature; it is difficult to imagine a work of art without them.