An analysis on the metaphorical symbols used in Kahlil Gibrans Poem Tears and Laughter

ABSTRACT

Literature is unique subject to be studied, because in studying literature it will cover emotion, imagination, feeling, as well as the knowledge of it. In this certain characteristic, they are symbol, allusion, devices and figurative language. Figurative language, especially metaphor is commonly used among others in poetry writing. To know the metaphors on their form which is proposed by Wahab; nominal, predicative, and sentential metaphor.

This study aims at analyzing the metaphorical symbols used in Kahlil Gibran’s poem ،،Tears and Laughter”. In this study the researcher has two problems: what metaphorical symbols are used in Kahlil Gibran’s poems ،،Tears and Laughter” and what is the meaning of each metaphorical symbol used in Kahlil Gibran’s poems ،،Tears and Laughter”. In this study the researcher analyzed only eight poems out of 14 poems.

The research design used in this study is descriptive qualitative research, which describes the metaphorical symbols used and their meaning in Kahlil Gibran’s ،،Tears and Laughter”. In collecting the data the researcher has four stages: 1) The researcher read ،،Tears and Laughter of Kahlil Gibran”. 2) The researcher selected eight poems. 3) The researcher read the content of poetry and explored the meaning. 4) The researcher arranged the data systematically based on the problem of the study.

The result of this study is Kahlil Gibran some used kinds of metaphorical symbols in his poem. Those metaphorical symbols are Human, Animate, Living, Object, Terrestrial, Substance, Energies, Cosmos, and Being. The meaning of each metaphorical symbols used in Kahlil Gibrans poems ،،Tears and Laughter” describes about the phenomena that happen in the world. Such as (1) cosmos which refers to universal bodies such as sun, earth and moon, (2) living which describes organic plan, such as tree, flower.

From that explanation, the researcher suggests that for future researcher hopefully other researchers will conduct a study of metaphorical symbols in language of lyrical prose written by Kahlil Gibran in this poems Tears and Laughter. As a comparison from which we can draw a more valid generalization. For English learners they should read them thoroughly; As Tears and Laughter of Kahlil Gibran poem. For the further researcher try to observe what is the actual phenomena, about literary work has specially improvement of poems. For English teachers, they should explain metaphorical symbol clearly to their students in order to arouse their appreciation of literary works, particularly poetry. And the researcher expected that the students can compare the use of the nine categories in the Hierarchical of Semantic Domain in each version.