Suggestion and Statement in Poetry

Unstated meaning has always been a feature of poetry, but it is in our own century that it has established itself not only as the prevailing mode of expression but also as the central concern of analytic criticism. Although a variety of terms, such as Ambiguity, Irony and Gesture, have been employed to discuss this aspect of poetry and have gained popularity, Professor Rayan shows that ‘Suggestion’, occurring as far back as in Edgar Allan Poe’s writings and later in Symbolist theorizing, is a concept of much longer standing and of equal serviceability. In examining Suggestion, particularly as the only mode of presentation of emotion, he makes fruitful use of some central ideas from ninth-century Sanskrit aesthetics. The contrasted techniques of Suggestion and Statement are studied in relation to each other and with reference to many poetic examples, past and present.

Unstated meaning has always been a feature of poetry, but it is in our own century that it has established itself not only as the prevailing mode of expression but also as the central concern of analytic criticism. Although a variety of terms, such as Ambiguity, Irony and Gesture, have been employed to discuss this aspect of poetry and have gained popularity, Professor Rayan shows that ‘Suggestion’, occurring as far back as in Edgar Allan Poe’s writings and later in Symbolist theorizing, is a concept of much longer standing and of equal serviceability. In examining Suggestion, particularly as the only mode of presentation of emotion, he makes fruitful use of some central ideas from ninth-century Sanskrit aesthetics. The contrasted techniques of Suggestion and Statement are studied in relation to each other and with reference to many poetic examples, past and present.