A LEXICAL ANALYSIS OF MARIANNE MOORE'S COMPLETE POEMS (1887-1972)

Abstract

This thesis applies some of the methods of lexical analysis to a body of poetry that has been viewed vaguely by some as "difficult". The target text is Marianne Moore's Complete Poems (1984), a collection of 124 poems. An attempt is made to describe the lexis of the poems with the hope that the same methods can be applied to other texts and thereby provide a means by which the lexis used by different poets can be compared. The study consists of six main chapters, with an additional short introduction that presents a general overview of the whole thesis. Chapter 1: The Present Study: Motivation and Methodology consists of four main sections. It discusses details deemed pertinent to the study such as the relevance of stylistics in general to poetry and, more specifically, the benefits that may be gained from the use of lexical analysis in this area. Marianne Moore is introduced to those unfamiliar with her as an innovative, though often eccentric, poet. This is followed by a short discussion of the use of computers in language and literature studies, with reference to some applications, which may be of use for researchers wishing to implement the latest technology in the study of language. This chapter concludes by recognising that the literary background is just as relevant to the study of poetry as is the lexical analysis, as both contribute to the overall understanding and interpretation of the text (in accordance with the Hermeneutic spiral I circle theory in the science and methodology of interpreting texts). Chapter 2: Marianne Moore and Her Critics consists of three main sections. The first presents a short biography of Moore. The second presents a chronological review of the views of various critics on the poems from the