Free Verbal Repetition in Bronte’s Poetry

Abstract

This paper attempts to analyze the use of free verbal repetition in Emily Bronte’s poems by using Leech’s classification. The aim of this linguistic analysis is to establish how different categories of verbal repetition contribute to the process of foregrounding’ of literary meanings and effects. To evaluate the functional value of these linguistic patterns, the approach of Fish (1980) and Toolan (1990) is also used. The study ends with the conclusion that the poet makes extensive use of the device of free verbal repetition in two different kinds; both intermittent repetition and immediate repetition. The findings of this research reveal that Bronte uses more intermittent repetition than immediate ones. She uses these verbal repetitions to establish a threefold meaning, poetic, personal, and symbolic of greater universal realities.