本书是运用语言学理论和分析方法解析诗歌语言的开山之作。作者以“前景化”为主线，重点介绍了诗歌语言的特点及其变异形式，用丰富的实例与翔实的解析引导我们运用语言学分析方法赏析英诗，为我们研究文学语言的本质和属性提供了许多宝贵的启示和依据。本书理论阐述清晰易懂，既适合专业研究者与高校师生阅读，也适合喜爱英文诗歌的一般读者阅读。

Foreword
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION
0.1 The'lang.-lit.' problem
0.2 A descriptive rhetoric
0.3 Poetic language and 'ordinary' language
0.4 A possible misgiving
Notes
1 POETRY AND THE LANGUAGE OF PAST AND PRESENT
1.1 Varieties of English usage
1.1.1 Dialects
1.1.2 Registers: usage according to situation
1.2 Linguistic convention in poetry
1.2.1 The trend of conformity
1.2.2 The function of archaism
1.2.3 Poetic language and 'poetical' language
1.2.4 Grand, middle, and plain styles
1.2.5 The routine licences of verse composition
Examples for discussion
Notes
2 THE CREATIVE USE OF LANGUAGE
2.1 The escape from banality
2.2 Two meanings of'creative'
2.3 The qualities of prose in poetry
2.4 Degrees of linguistic audacity
Examples for discussion
Notes
3 VARIETIES OF POETIC LICENCE
3.1 Anatomy of language
3.1.1 The Three main levels: realization, form, semantics
3.1.2 Phonology and graphology
3.1.3 Meaning and significance
3.1.4 Ancillary branches of linguistics
3.2 Types of deviation
3.2.1 Lexical deviation
3.2.2 Grammatical deviation
3.2.3 Phonological deviation
3.2.4 Graphological deviation
3.2.5 Semantic deviation
3.2.6 Dialectal deviation
3.2.7 Deviation of register
3.2.8 Deviation of historical period
3.3 Conclusion
Examples for discussion
Notes
4 FOREGROUNDING AND INTERPRETATION
4.1 Foregrounding
4.1.1 Foregrounding in art and elsewhere
4.1.2 An example
4.2 Interpretation
4.2.1 The subjectivity of interpretation
4.2.2 The 'warranty' for a deviation
4.3 Parallelism
4.3.1 Parallelism as foregrounded regularity
4.3.2 How much regularity？
4.3.3 Patterns of identity and contrast
4.3.4 The interpretation of parallelism
Examples for discussion
Notes
5 VERBAL REPETITION
5.1 Schemes and tropes
5.2 Formal repetitions
5.2.1 Free verbal repetition
5.2.2 Types of verbal parallelism
5.2.3 The functions of verbal parallelism
Examples for discussion
Notes
6 PATTERNS OF SOUND
6.1 Sound patterns within syllables
6.2 Sound patterns in relation to stress
6.3 ' Music' in poetry
6.4 The interpretation of sound patterns
6.4.1 'Chiming'
6.4.2 Onomatopoeia
6.4.3 Varieties of onomatopoeia
Examples for discussion
Notes
7 METRE
7.1 Rhythm and metre
7.2 The rhythm of English
7.2.1 The measure: the unit of rhythm
7.2.2 Which syllables are stressed？
7.2.3 Pauses
7.2.4 Syllable length
7.3 Metre and the line of verse
7.3.1 English metre as rhythmic parallelism
7.3.2 The 'foot' of traditional prosody
7.3.3 The line of verse
7.3.4 Some numerical aspects of metre
7.3.5 Accentual metre
7.4 The interaction of rhythm and verse form
7.4.1 Defeated expectancy
7.4.2 Metrical variation
7.5 Grammar and metre
7.5.1 Enjambment
7.5.2 The 'verse paragraph'
For discussion
Notes
8 THE IRRATIONAL IN POETRY
8.1 A logical view ofmeaning
8.1.1 Some types of semantic oddity
8.1.2 Definition and description
8.2 Redundancy in poetry
8.2.1 Pleonasm
8.2.2 Tautology
8.2.3 Periphrasis
8.3 Absurdity in poetry
8.3.1 Oxymoron
8.3.2 Paradox
8.4 Beyond reason and credibility
Examples for discussion
Notes
9 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
9.1 Transference of meaning
9.1.1 Synecdoche
9.1.2 Metaphor
9.1.3 Metonymy
9.2 Aspects of metaphor
9.2.1 How to analyse a metaphor
9.2.2 Simile and metaphor
9.2.3 Notional classes of metaphor
9.2.4 Extended metaphor
9.2.5 Compound metaphor and mixed metaphor
9.2.6 Symbolism and allegory
Examples for discussion
Notes
10 HONEST DECEPTIONS
10.1 Hyperbole and litotes
10.1.1 Hyperbole