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Wed 25 May, 2011 09:32 pm
In poems, we can break grammatical rules and use adjectives as nouns whenever there is a need?
For example, clear and impure are both adjectives, but now they are used as nouns without misunderstanding.
Context:
The Divine Root Conceives and the Spring Breaks Forth
As the Heart's Nature Is Cultivated, the Great Way Arises
Before Chaos was divided, Heaven and Earth were one;
All was a shapeless blur, and no men had appeared.
Once Pan Gu destroyed the Enormous Vagueness
The separation of clear and impure began.
@oristarA,
The central issue is that "poetry" follows the principles of (1) structural integrity (scanning etc) and (2) individual stylistics on the part of the poet. In this example the words
clear and
impure are chosen in preference to
clarity and
impurity with respect to (1) syllable count. You might also argue semantically (2) the choice of the first pair over the second implies continuity of the process which the poet says "began" rather than completion. Generally speaking regarding(2), formal "traditional grammar" (nouns adjectives etc) is subservient to the idiosyncratic rule structures adopted by poets.
@oristarA,
Quote:In poems, we can break grammatical rules and use adjectives as nouns whenever there is a need?
Oh yes, and not only in poetry. Examples:
To the pure, all things are pure.
None but the brave deserve the fair.
@McTag,
McTag wrote:
Quote:In poems, we can break grammatical rules and use adjectives as nouns whenever there is a need?
Oh yes, and not only in poetry. Examples:
To the pure, all things are pure.
None but the brave deserve the fair.
Cool, but we cannot use the adjectives without the definite article.
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