Transcript The Voice of the Swallow, Flittering, Calls to Me

The Voice of the Swallow,
Flittering, Calls to Me
Pastoral Poetry
Diction
 Diction refers to a writer’s choice of words.
 This choice is like the appropriate selection
of clothing.
 You would not go to a wedding in jeans.
 A writer’s diction can be a major determinant
of his or her style.
 Diction can be described as formal or
informal, abstract or concrete, plain or
ornate, ordinary or technical
Diction
 John L. Foster, the translator of these Egyptian
love poems, made the following statement about
his choice of words:
“The diction should be unpretentiously colloquial,
simple, except when elevated by the power of a
strong feeling or slipping over into the sometimes
slangy verbal patterns of irony or humor. The
language should be conversational, quiet, the
usages of personal and private speech; for those
are the kinds of words for lovers.”