The shift of metaphor in the poetry of the blind

Abstract

The study analyzes the deviation of metaphor in the poetry of blind poets during the Abbasid era, highlighting their creative ability to craft figurative imagery that reflects their individual and social experiences. It uncovers their skill in selecting impactful words and creating imagery that oscillates between tradition and innovation, often relying on blending previous meanings and images to produce novel metaphors. The study emphasizes the significance of metaphor as a stylistic feature grounded in the concept of deviation, serving as a principal tool for establishing new and unconventional relationships between words. This imparts profound aesthetic and suggestive dimensions to literary texts. Furthermore, the research delves into the types of metaphor, both explicit and implicit, showcasing how they were employed in the poetry of the blind to animate inanimate objects and embody abstract meanings in alignment with their emotions and sentiments. It underscores the necessity of a creative poet with a fertile imagination, as well as a discerning audience capable of exploring the hidden semantic layers. The research presents selected poetic examples from blind Abbasid poets such as Abu Al-Alaa Al-Ma’arri, Bashar bin Burd, and others, illustrating how these poets skillfully utilized metaphor to achieve psychological and aesthetic effects on their audience. Through textual analysis, the study highlights the role of metaphor in constructing poetic texts and making them an effective medium for aesthetic and creative communication, reflecting the poet's profound human experience and its connection to the surrounding social and psychological context.