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PHONOLOGICAL FEATURES IN ROBERT FROST’S

“FIRE AND ICE” AND “NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY”

POEMS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

HADRIAN KUSUMA ASMARA

Student Number: 144214071

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA

2018

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ii

PHONOLOGICAL FEATURES IN ROBERT FROST’S

“FIRE AND ICE” AND “NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY”

POEMS

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

HADRIAN KUSUMA ASMARA

Student Number: 144214071

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA

2018


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Time is never Waiting For us To Do Something


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This Page is dedicated for

CHRISTIAN

KUSUMA ASMARA


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to send my deepest gratefulness to Jesus Christ for

all blessing during and after the process of writing this thesis. I thank Him

because He has accompanied me through my family and my friends who always

support me in every situation I have.

Secondly, I would like to extend my gratitude to my thesis advisor, Arina

Isti’anah, S.Pd., M.Hum., for understanding my diffculties, guiding me

patiently, and supporting me in finishing my thesis. She patiently read my writing

and gave me suggestions that made this writing a success. Thridly, I also would

like to thank my co-advisor, Dr. Bernadine Ria Lestari, M.Sc. who gives me

lots of advices and suggestions that make my thesis better.

Fourthly, I would thank my parents, my brothers, my girlfriend, Irene

Putri, for all of their support so I can finish my thesis. Next, I would also thank all

my lovely best firends Alex, Ega, Adong, Sharon, Siska, Bella, and Nadia, who

always support me to do my thesis, all my Kopma friends, Inno, Wisnu, Satya,

Niko, Malolo, Garda, and Magot, who always accompanies me in playing

Vainglory when I am down.

Finally, I would like thank all of my friends in English Letters of 2014 for

the encouragement so that I manage to finish this thesis.

Hadrian Kusuma Asmara


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................. ii

APPROVAL PAGE ....................................................................................... iii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ................................................................................. iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA

ILMIAH .......................................................................................................... v

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................. vi

MOTTO PAGE .............................................................................................. vii

DEDICATION PAGE ................................................................................... viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................. x

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................... xii

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... xiii

ABSTRAK ...................................................................................................... xiv

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................. 1

A. Background of the Study ..................................................................... 1

B. Problem Formulation ........................................................................... 5

C. Objectives of the Study ........................................................................ 5

D. Definition of Terms .............................................................................. 6

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ............................................. 8

A. Review of Related Studies ................................................................... 8

B. Review of Related Theories ................................................................. 12

1. Stylistics .......................................................................................... 12

2. Phonology ........................................................................................ 14

3. Poem ................................................................................................ 22

C. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................ 23

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................. 25

A. Object of the Study .............................................................................. 25

B. Approach of the Study ......................................................................... 26

C. Method of the Study ............................................................................ 26

1. Data Collection ................................................................................ 26

2. Data Analysis .................................................................................. 27

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ................. 29

A. Phonological Features in Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing

Gold Can Stay” .................................................................................... 29


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1. “Fire and Ice” Poem ........................................................................ 29

2. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Poem ..................................................... 40

B. Phonological Feature’s contribution to Robert Frost’s style ................ 50

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 58

REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 62

APPENDICES ................................................................................................ 65

A. Appendix 1: “Fire and Ice” Poem ........................................................ 65

B. Appendix 2: “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Poem .................................... 66


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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Assonance Found in “Fire ad Ice”................................................. .... 30

Table 2. Alliteration Found in “Fire and Ice”................................................ 31

Table 3. Consonance Found in “Fire and Ice”............................................... 33

Table 4. Rhyme Found in “Fire and Ice”....................................................... 35

Table 5. Metrical Pattern Found in “Fire and Ice”......................................... 37

Table 6. Assonance Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”................................ 40

Table 7. Alliteration Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”............................... 42

Table 8. Consonance Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.............................. 43

Table 9. Rhyme Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.................................... 45

Table 10. Metrical Pattern Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”..................... 47


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ABSTRACT

ASMARA, HADRIAN KUSUMA. (2018). Phonological Features in Robert

Frost’s “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Poems. Yogyakarta:

Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Style is a primary aspect of any literary piece of writing. One example of

literary works is poem. In stylistics, the style of a poem can be analyzed through

several aspects, one of which is through its sounds. Subsequently, the use of

sound in a poem can be used to see the style of the author. In the case of sound,

there is an overview of the sound system in the language by means of phonology.

Phonological rules can show the analysis of sound production changes. Phonology

has some interesting type of data to analyze. One of which is literary works,

especially poetry. This study has two objectives to discuss. First, the writer

presents phonological features found in Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” and

“Nothing Gold Can Stay”. Second, the writer finds Robert Frost style in making

the poems through the phonological features that are found.

This research employed a stylistic approach to analyze the phonological

features found in the poems and find Frost’s style in making his poems. The

population study was employed to take the data.

From the discussion, the writer found out that “Fire and Ice” had

ABAABCBCB end rhyme pattern, which included /aɪə/,/aɪs/, and /eɪt/ rhyme

sounds, and it used masculine rhyme. It was written in iambic tetrameter and

iambic dimeter. The front high lax vowel /ɪ/ and the diphthong /aɪ/ dominate the

repetition of vowel sound. The alveolar voiceless consonant /s/ is mostly repeated

in the beginning of the words, while the alveolar voiceless consonant /t/ is the

only sound repeated in the end of the words. Meanwhile, “Nothing Gold Can

Stay” had AABBCCDD end rhyme pattern, which included /əʊld/,/aʊə/,/i:f/, and

/eɪ/ rhyme sound, and it also used masculine rhyme. It had couplet verse. It was

written in iambic trimester and unmetrical pattern. The repetition of vowel sound

is dominated by the diphthong /əʊ/ and the front high tense /i:/. This poem has

five repetitions of initial consonant sound and each repetition has a different

consonant. On the other hand, there are three repetitions of final consonant sound

in this poem and each repetition also has a different consonant. The writer also

found the style of Robert Frost in making his poems. The writer found that Robert

Frost has a rhythmical style in making his poems.

As the final point, there are three points that can be concluded. First, this

research showed that linguistic analysis could be used to analyze literary text.

Second, this research also found that Robert Frost used phonological features in

making his poems. Last, this research also found Robert Frost style in making his

poems. Frost has a rhytmical style in making his poems.

Keywords: stylistics, phonology, poem, phonological features


xiv

ABSTRACT

ASMARA, HADRIAN KUSUMA. (2018). Phonological Features in Robert

Frost’s “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Poems. Yogyakarta:

Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Style adalah aspek utama dari setiap tulisan sastra. Salah satu contoh karya

sastra adalah puisi. Dalam Ilmu Stilistika, gaya sebuah puisi dapat dianalisis

melalui beberapa aspek, salah satunya melalui bunyinya. Selanjutnya, penggunaan

bunyi dalam sebuah puisi dapat digunakan untuk melihat gaya dari pengarangnya.

Dalam hal bunyi, terdapat gambaran umum tentang sistem suara dalam bahasa

yaitu fonologi. Aturan fonologis dapat menunjukkan analisis perubahan bunyi

yang diciptakan. Fonologi memiliki beberapa tipe data yang menarik untuk

dianalisis. Salah satunya adalah karya sastra, khususnya puisi. Penelitian ini

memiliki dua tujuan untuk dibahas. Pertama, penulis mencoba menyajikan fitur

fonologis yang ditemukan di "Fire and Ice" dan "Nothing Gold Can Stay" karya

Robert Frost. Kedua, penulis mencoba menemukan gaya dari Robert Frost dalam

membuat puisi melalui fitur fonologis yang ditemukan.

Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan ilmu stilistika untuk menganalisis

fitur fonologis yang ditemukan di dalam data puisi dan untuk mengetahui gaya

dari Frost dalam menulis puisinya.

Dari hasil pembahasan tersebut, penulis menemukan bahwa puisi “Fire and

Ice” memiliki pola sajak yang berakhiran ABAABCBCB, yaitu bunyi sajak

/aɪə/,/aɪs/, dan /eɪt/, dan puisi ini menggunakan sajak maskulin. Puisi ini ditulis

dalam iambic tetrameter dan iambic pentameter. Vokal front high lax /ɪ/ dan

diphthong /aɪ/ paling banyak muncul di pengulangan bunyi vokal. Konsonan

alveolar voiceless /s/ paling banyak muncul di awal kata, sedangkan konsonan /t/

merupakan satu-satunya konsonan yang diulang di akhir kata. Sementara itu, puisi

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” memiliki pola sajak yang berakhiran AABBCCDD,

yaitu /əʊld/,/aʊə/,/i:f/, and /eɪ/, puisi ini juga menggunakan sajak maskulin. Puisi

ini memiliki bait couplet. Puisi ini ditulis dalam iambic trimeter dan meter yang

tidak berpola. Pengulangan bunyi vokal didominasi oleh diphthong /əʊ/ dan vokal

front high tense /i:/. Puisi ini memiliki lima pengulangan bunyi konsonan awal

dan tiap pengulangan memiliki konsonan yang berbeda. Terdapat juga tiga

pengulangan bunyi konsonan di akhir kata dalam puisi ini dan tiap pengulangan

juga memiliki konsonan yang berbeda. Penulis juga menemukan gaya dari Robert

Frost dalam membuat puisinya. Penulis menemukan bahwa Robert Frost memiliki

gaya yang berirama di dalam membuat puisinya.

Pada akhirnya, ada tiga poin yang dapat disimpulkan. Pertama, penelitian

ini menunjukkan bahwa analisis linguistik dapat digunakan untuk menganalisis

teks sastra. Kedua, penelitian ini juga menemukan bahwa Robert Frost

menggunakan fitur fonologis dalam membuat puisinya. Terakhir, penelitian ini

juga menemukan gaya Robert Frost dalam membuat puisinya. Frost mempunyai

gaya yang berirama di dalam membuat puisinya.


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Language is an essential thing for human life. It is a primary medium for

people to communicate their feelings or ideas and to interact to each other. It

initiates people to deliver and understand messages. As the time elapses, language

has developed. Language becomes important for human beings. Jakobson (1960)

states that there are six basic functions of language,

they are referential (oriented toward the context), emotive (oriented toward

the addresser), phatic (serves to establish mutual agreement on the code),

conative (oriented toward the addressee), metalingual (to establish mutual

agreement on the code), and poetic (puts ‘the focus on the

message’)(p.365).

It can be concluded that language is useful for human beings. Human

needs language to communicate with each other. The six function of language

stated by Jakobson shows that language has its function to help people deliver or

receive messages. One of them is poetic function which puts the focus on the

message and this function usually used in a poem.

Human being’s life and language are interrelated. Language makes

humans different from other creatures in this world. Language is used through

written and spoken ways. In written language, it can be represented into non-

literary and literary works. Non-literary works, such as news article, magazine,

and textbooks, are often discovered in daily life. Literary works, such as short


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stories, prose, plays, novels, and poetry which can be found and appreciated in

daily life.

Human life’s representation is believed to be described in literary works.

Some of literary works are created as a reflection of what happens in the society.

One of the example is “Caged Birds” poem by Maya Angelou. In this poem

Angelou describes about Afro American life’s that does not have freedom to

perform and give their mind. The life of birds which are caged is the picture of

their life. The poem depicts about racism and inequality that Afro American

people experienced. Literary works also reflect the writer’s personal life

experience. For example, Billy Collins’ poems, entitled “The Best Cigarette”, tells

about his personal experience in several occasions with action of smoking.

Literary studies discuss literary works through various literary criticisms.

The result of literary work uses many distinctive approaches, which can expose

some different meanings and interpretations in observing the same literary work

as its data. Meanwhile, Simpson states that “literature offers the chance to explore

language that is out of the ordinary, language which is often the preeminent

embodiment of the creative spirit” (2004, p.98). According to Simpson’s

statement, it can be said that literature through literary texts has many sources to

be analyzed in language study because it provides unusual language. Therefore, in

language studies, literary work can be analyzed through its lexical, grammar,

phonological, and graphological which are included in stylistics. Wales states that

besides to describe the language features of texts, stylistics also give the readers


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an idea about the interpretation of texts, or link literary effects to linguistics

causes in which they are relevant (1991).

Style is a primary aspect of any literary piece of writing. Leech and Short

(2007) state that “the word ‘style’ has a fairly uncontroversial meaning: it refers to

the way in which language is used in a given context, by a given person, for a

given purpose, and so on” (p.9). The general meaning of style is the ‘manner or

mode’ but the literary meaning of style refers to how a writer’s thoughts take the

shape of words. The style of literary work is discussed by using stylistics as the

approach.

Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which deals with different styles of

texts. Verdonk (2002) states that the description of language’s intention and effect

are also the concern of stylistics, except the expression in language. It is

reinforced by Al Shawa (2015) who states that stylistics is a study that looks at the

text in detail and analyzes the significant language forms for interpretation. It

means that stylistics concerns on the study and the interpretation of text from a

linguistic perspective. Some different language devices, that are graphological,

phonological, lexical, and grammatical, are projected to be observed in stylistics.

In this research, the writer applies the phonological level of analysis which

covers meter, rhyme, assonance, consonance, and alliteration. To be specific, this

research aims to analyze the phonological level of poems. The poems observed in

this study were written by Robert Frost entitled “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold

Can Stay”.


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Robert Frost, an American poet, was born in San Francisco, California in

1874. He moved to New England when he was child after his father’s death. After

that because of the difficulties of financial, he moved to England (The United

Kingdom) in the age of 38. In 1924, he received his first Pulitzer Prize for his

book of poems: “New Hampshire”. “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

are two of the poems included in “New Hampshire” part (Robert Frost, 2016).

“Fire and Ice” was written in 1920, meanwhile “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

was written in 1923. “Fire and Ice” talks about the fate of the world, Fire is to

symbolize the desire and Ice is to symbolize the hate (Robert Frost: Poems

Summary and Analysis of “Fire and Ice”, para.1). The next one is “Nothing Gold

Can Stay” which tells about the leaves that start to show in the season of spring

are perceived as gold, but soon turn to familiar green and before too long they're

fading as victims time (Spacey, 2017, para.3).

There are two reasons that make the writer pay considerable attention to

the poems and interest to make it the object of the study. The first writer’s reason

in writing this research is because the writer aims to use language study in

analyzing literary work, which is different from most researchers who usually use

literary criticism in analyzing literary work.

His adherence to meter, line length, and rhyme scheme is the second

reason why the writer chooses Robert Frost. Robert Frost holds a unique and

almost isolated position in American letters. He never completely abandoned

conventional metrical form for free verse, as so many of his contemporaries were

doing. He is special. His adherence to meter, line length, and rhyme scheme was


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not an arbitrary choice. He believed that the poem’s particular mood dictated or

determined the poet’s and the first commitment to make a poem are about meter

and length of line (Robert Frost, 2017, para.3). The writer aims to observe the

style of Robert Frost in making poems. The writer chooses “Fire and Ice” and

“Nothing Gold Can Stay”, which both are in the same part of the book entitled

New Hampshire which made him receive his first Pulitzer Prize.

Therefore, this research employs a specific study as the principal of

theoretical grounds. The approach used in this research is stylistics. Stylistics in

this research will give a profound understanding towards the phonological level in

“Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems. The research overwhelms

rhymes, meters, alliterations, assonances, and consonances which are found in the

poems.

B. Problem Formulation

There are two problems that will be discussed in the study. The problems

are presented as the following:

1. What phonological features are used in Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” and

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems?

2. How do those features constitute the style of Robert Frost?

C. Objectives of the Study

There are two objectives that will be analyzed in this research. The first

goal is to find out profoundly the phonological features that are used in Robert


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Frost’s “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems. There are some

phonological features that are found in these poems that are the rhyme, the meter,

the consonances, the assonances, and the alliterations. The research aims to see

the phonological features that are found in each poem. The second goal is to find

out the style of Robert Frost. The research aims to observe Robert Frost’s style in

making poems through the phonological features that are used in his “Fire and

Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.

D. Definition of Terms

This part will clarify the definition of certain terms that are used in the

research. The terms overwhelm style, phonological feature, and poems. The first

terminology is style. Style influences the characteristics given to stylistics as one

of several linguistic disciplines. It describes the way of person’s speaking and

writing. Style has an uncontroversial meaning, according to Leech and Short, “it

refers to the way in which language is used in a given context for a given purpose

and by a given person” (2007, p.9). Style is also a description of an aspect of

language that deals with choices of diction, phrases, sentences, and linguistic

materials. The different of choices will produce different style and different effect.

The second terminology is phonological features. According to Crystal

(2008), phonology is a branch of linguistics which studies the sound systems of

language (p.365). It means that phonology contains a study of language to

determine its distinctive sounds, its sound structure, and pronunciation. In

linguistics, feature is a term used to refer to any typical or noticeable property of


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spoken or written language (Crystal, 2008, p.186). It means that phonological

feature is one of term of the various levels of linguistic analysis that studies the

term of sound systems of language. In this research, it will discuss the

phonological features in the poems that overwhelm rhyme and meter (supra-

segmental features of poetry), alliteration, consonance, and assonance (segmental

features in poetry).

The third terminology is poem. Literature refers to novel, poetry, fictions,

plays which have artistics qualities. Arp and Johnson stated that “poem might be

defined as a kind of language that says more and says it more intensely than does

ordinary language” (2009, p.633). Therefore, it can be said that poem is one of

literary work which bring the reader a sense and a perception of life, and it

concern is with experience.


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

In this part, the previous studies of several people who researched about

styles of language that are used in the poem are displayed. There are four studies

from the previous researches that contribute to this research. They help this

research to develop ideas of the topic.

The first research is entitled John Keats’s “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”: A

Stylistic Analysis by Al Shawa (2015). There are three purposes that Al Shawa

focuses on. Firstly, Al Shawa’s research tries to identify the stylistic markers of

Keat’s “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”. Secondly, it tries to study how stylistic

devices used to achieve the communicative purpose of Keat’s “La Belle Dame

Sans Merci”. Thirdly, Al Shawa’s study identifies the functional style that the

poem is representative of. The object of the research is taken from John Keat’s

poem, entitled “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”.

In order to analyze the data, Al Shawa uses stylistic approach since

stylistics can be used for both non-literary texts and literary texts. Al Shawa

decides to focus on analyzing the text of the poem on four different levels of

stylistics: grammatical, graphological, morphological, and phonological.

The contribution of his study into this research lies on the analysis of the

phonological features. In phonological level analysis, Al Shawa observes the

employment of meter, alliteration, consonance, assonance, repetition, and rhyme


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scheme in John Keat’s “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”. In his analysis, Al Shawa

finds that John Keat’s “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” has a steady rhythm that

creates underlying beat and masculine rhyme scheme. The alliteration and

consonance makes layers of sound that work like harmony in music. He also finds

that the poem’s meter is iambic tetrameter and has standard schematic (ABCB). In

concluding his phonological analysis level, Al Shawa mentions that the use of

certain phonological devices in the poem is able to create auditory imagery of the

poem.

The difference between Al Shawa’s research and this research lies on the

discussion and the object of the study. This research analyzes the poems that are

written by Robert Frost entitled “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, yet

Al Shawa analyses John Keat’s poem which entitled “La Belle Dame Sans

Merci”. In his analysis, Al Shawa observes the text of the poem in four different

levels of stylistics, which are grammatical, graphological, morphological, and

phonological. By analyzing the poem through four different levels of stylistics, Al

Shawa can find the style of John Keat’s poem. Therefore, this study is more

specific in terms of analyzing the style of Robert Frost through its phonological

features.

The second research is entitled Phonology and Stylistics: A Phonaesthetic

Study of Gray’s ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyarrd’ by Bassey Garvey

Ufot in 2013. Ufot states that his research is a stylistic study of the phonological

features of Thomas Gray’s ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’ such as

phonaesthetic and prosody (2013). The purpose of his research is to give a


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detailed investigation of all the phonaesthetic devices in the poem which support

the meaning of the poem. The object of his research is taken from Thomas Gray’s

poem, entitled “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”.

Furthermore, in his analysis, Ufot looks at the syllabification, meter,

rhyme, elision, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, and consonance to support

the meaning of the poem. Ufot concludes that the poem shows melodic

contemplation about the possibilities for virtuous living and greatness among

simple, rural people (Ufot, 2013, p.125). From the findings, he found that the

preponderance of these phonological features and their phonaesthetic qualities

makes Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” more of a contemplative

poem of eulogy (panegyric) rather than a traditional elegy.

The contribution of his study into this research lies on the use of the

theories. The theories that are used are phonology and stylistics. His research

employs metrical phonological theories from Stallworthy, Wales, Katamba,

Leech, and Roach which can help the writer in this study to appraise the

suprasegmental features of poetry such as rhyme, meter, alliteration, assonance,

and consonance. As a result, the writer aims to conduct the similar research with

the same theoretical grounds on a different object. Ufot’s research uses Thomas

Gray’s poem which is entitled “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, yet this

research uses the poems from Robert Frost which are entitled “Fire and Ice” and

“Nothing Gold Can Stay”.

The third research is written by Isti’anah in 2017, which is entitled Stylistic

Analysis of Maya Angelou’s Equality. In her study, Isti’anah aims to carry out a


11

stylistic analysis of Maya Angelou’s “Equality”. There are some language levels

that Isti’anah observed , which are the phonological, graphological, grammatical,

and semantic levels. The findings of her research show that each of the elements

has identifiable functions which contribute to the effective meaning of freedom in

Maya Angelou’s “Equality”. She concludes that stylistics is applied to analyze

literary work so that the appreciation to it can be achieved. Isti’anah’s study helps

the writer on the theory that she used and the analysis of stylistics which include a

phonological level theory of stylistics and analysis in it.

This research has a different perspective from Isti’anah’s research in terms

of discussion and object. Isti’anah analyzes the stylistics analysis which can

contribute to observe the meanings of Maya Angelou’s poem “Equality” through

all of stylistic elements. However, this research has more focuses on phonological

level of stylistic to find out Robert Frost style through his poems.

The last research that is related to this study is Flores’ Phonological

Features of Basilectal Philippine English: An Exploratory Study (2016). In her

study, Flores aims to describe the result of a data-based investigation of the

phonology of the basilectal Phillipne English as a response to Tupaz’. The

findings of her study provide a description of the phonological features of

“marginalized” voices that include minimally functionally literat Filipinos. She

concludes that the segmental and suprasegmental level from the Cebuano speakers

from a region do not diverge much from the General American English pattern.

This current study is different from Flores’ study. The difference lies on

the object and the discussion of the study. Flore’s study focuses on basilectal


12

Phillipine English which discuss about the stress, consonance, and vowels, while

this study present the phonological features on the poem which is written by

Robert Frost. This study focuses on phonological features in literary work that

overwhelm rhyme, meter, alliteration, consonance, and assonance. This study will

develop the theories about phonological features. The writer will discover

phonological features through literary work.

B. Review of Related Theories

In this part, the theories associated with stylistics, phonology, poetry, and

the poetry of Robert Frost will be presented in the following discussions.

1. Stylistics

Stylistics can be defined as the study of style in language. Style in

language is “a set of conscious or unconscious choices of expression, inspired or

induced by a particular context” (Verdonk, 2002, p.21). According to Verdonk

(2002), stylistics itself is “the analysis of distinctive expression in language and

the description of its purpose and effect” (p.4). Concurring with Verdonk, Leech

& Short state that stylistics describes what use is made of language in order to

explain something (2007, p.11). It is supported by Simpson (2004, p.2) who

defines stylistics as “a method of textual interpretation in which primacy of place

is assigned to language.” It can be concluded that language is the most important

thing to explore stylistics because it contains various forms, patterns, and levels

that represent linguistic structures to lead to the entrance of interpretation.


13

Short (1996, p.5) states the concern of stylistics is about linguistic

description and meaning (interpretation) and those must be interrelated explicitly.

It can be said that stylistics relates the linguistics descriptors to interpretation. He

also adds that “analyzing linguistic structure at various level (grammar, sounds,

words, textual structure) helps to understand the sentences of the text and the

relations between them” (p.5).

Furthermore, linguistic description turns to be the essential part of a good

criticism when it relates to interpretation. Short argues that “it constitutes a large

part of what is involved, say, in supporting a particular view of a poem of arguing

for one interpretation as against another” (1996, p.5). A shared knowledge of

English structure and the common procedures of inference employ to interpret

utterances.

Besides the part of good criticism, conducting stylistics also shares other

purposes. The first used of stylistics is “to uncover authrial styles, text styles, and

other kinds of styles and to recognize that style and meaning are inextricably

linked with one another” (Short, 1996, p.27). Secondly, stylistics is used to

explore language and creativity creativity in language use, and enriches the ways

of thinking about language to help in understanding the text (Simpson, 2004, p.3).

The scopes of stylistics are so wide, it reaches some types of texts, and for

example advertisements, slogans, and newspaper articles, yet literary text is dealt

the most in stylistics, which is called literary stylistics. Literary stylistics itself

strives to explain the relation between language and artistic function (Leech &

Short, 2007, p.11). As cited in Costa (2015), Leech (1985) defines stylistics as the


14

study of the language usage in literature in which the general language

characteristics particularly in the English language are investigated as a means of

literary expression.

Finally, stylistics can indicate the themes of the literary text in large-scale

features because stylistics has some level of analysis to observe it. In stylistics,

grammar, words, textual structure, and sound can be observed with its level of

analysis. One of them is phonological level of stylistic that observes the

phonological feature of literary work especially in a poem.

2. Phonology

Phonology is the study of sound system of a particular language. It is

supported by Simpson (2004, p.6) who states that phonology encompasses the

meaning potential of the sounds of spoken language. The analysis of this part

relates to the rules of pronunciation. Simpson also adds that this deals with the

issue of sound patterning in literature (p.15).

As what Verdonk has analyzed in the poem of Seamus Heaney, he found

that the poem will be the example of analyzing phonological level. The German

word Brecht was pronounced as /brekt/ which is formed a perfect rhyme with

‘affect’. In the other hand, /brek/ ruins the rhyme scheme, which is also suggestive

of the mother’s contrariness (2002, p.59).

Jeffries and Mclntyre state that the task of stylistic in this level is to break

down the phonological features of poetic style (2010, p.35). Phonological devices


15

are obtained through the repetition exhibited, such as in rhyme, metre, alliteration,

consonance, and assonance.

a. Rhyme

Rhyme is one of supra-segmental features in poetry. The use of repetition

combinations of sound in rhymes can attract the listener’ or reader’ attention.

Jeffries and Mclntyre (2010) describe that “rhyme, the more recognizable of these

patterns, most typically occurs when there are two (or more) words which end

with a stressed syllable, where the vowel and the final consonant are the same”

(p.38). In line with Jeffries & Mclntyre, Ufot describes rhyme as “the repetition of

the arrangement of the nucleus (vowel) and coda (final consonant) at the ends of

two or more lines of a verse” (2013).

There are two main basic types of rhyme, which are masculine rhyme and

feminine rhyme. Masculine rhyme is the rhyme produced when the words are

monosyllabic like “bear” and “bare”. While feminine rhyme is a rhyme produced

when the words are polysyllabic like in the words “horner” and “corner”. In the

feminine rhymes, the last syllable is unstressed (Gill, 1995, pp.390-391). Arp and

Johnson adds that masculine rhyme is a rhyme in which the repeated accented

vowel sound is in the final syllable of the word (2009, p.1664).

In addition to these main types of rhyme, as what has been summarized by

Boulton (1982, p.139-141,144,147), there are also some forms of verse which

determine rhyme scheme. First, Blank Verse is a sequence of rhymed iambic

pentameters. Second, Heroic Couplet which is an iambic pentameter lines

rhyming in pairs. Third, Couplets verse which does lines rhyme in pairs with any


16

meter. Fourth, Triplets verse which has three sets lines rhyming in any meter.

Then, a poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines which called Sonnet Verse.

Moreover, there are Terza Rima and Ottava Rima verse. Terza Rima is an

iambic pentameter which is rhyming aba bcb cdc ded and ending with a quatrain

or couplet to avoid leaving one word unrhymed. While, Ottava Rima is an eight

lines of iambic pentameters rhyming abababcc. Next, Spenserian Stanza, which is

an eight lines of iambic pentameters followed by one iambic hexameter

(Alexandrine) and rhyming ababbcbcc. Then, seven lines of iambic pentameters

rhyming ababbcc which called Rhyme Royal. After that, Ballade which means

three stanzas of eight or ten lines each, with four of five lines at the end, known as

the envoy, using three or four rhymes only in the same order in each stanza and

with exactly the same line concluding each stanza and the envoy. The last is Free

Verse, it is an unrhymed verse without a traditional metrical form.

Therefore, rhyme cannot be separated from poetry. Rhyme in poetry becomes

a very crucial element in the music of such verse, reinforcing the memorable

quality of poetry. The relationship of meanings between words is emphasized by

the relationship of rhyme. Gill (1995) points that “when the words rhymed are

important, the whole meaning of the poem can be focused” (p.391).

b. Meter

In analyzing poetry through its phonological level, meter is also important

to observe. Meter is one of supra-segmental feature in poetry. Gill (1995) defines

that meter is “the regular rhythms of poetic lines, created by a sequence of

stressed or unstressed syllables” (p.387). It is supported by Haynes in Carter and


17

Simpson (2005, p.235) who states that “There is a temptation to see meter wholly

in terms of phonological schemes, i.e. as a matter of how many stresses and

syllables are permitted in a line of verse.”

The stressed and unstressed syllables in poetry which is defined as meter

are associated with foot. Haynes in Carter and Simpson (2005) explains that meter

focuses on the foot, “The foot is a pulse, or stress, falling on one syllable in words

which are important from the point of view of content” (p.238).

In analyzing the meter, the presence of the foot inside the line is very

important to determine the type of meter. Simpson (2004) defines that “In metrics,

the foot is the basic unit of analysis and it refers to the span of stressed and

unstressed syllables that forms a rhythmical pattern” (p.15). The number of their

constituent stressed and unstressed syllable specify the metrical feet of the line.

There are some types of the metrical feet which most commonly used. Arp

and Johnson (2009, p.839) stated that there are five types of foot in poem, which

are iambic foot, trochaic foot, anapestic foot, and dactylic foot. The unstressed

and stressed syllables in this type of foot is presented in ( X ) for unstressed

syllables and ( / ) for stressed syllables :

1) Iambic foot

Iambic foot has two syllables which the first is unstressed and the second

is stressed syllable, and represented in “X /” to show the stressed and unstressed

syllable. Examples include:

i. It was | the best | of times | it was | the worst | of times

X / X / X / X / X / X /


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ii. That time | of year | thou may’st | in me | behold

X / X / X / X / X /

2) Trochaic foot

Trochaic foot has two syllables which the first syllable is stressed and the

second is unstressed, and it is represented in “ / X” to show the unstressed and

stressed syllable. For example :

i. London | bridge is | falling | down

/ X / X / X /

ii. There they | are my | fifty | men and | women

/ X / X / X / X / X

3) Anapestic foot

Anapestic foot has three syllables which the first and the second syllables

are unstressed, continued with the last stressed syllable, it is represented in “X X

/” to describe the two unstressed syllables which are followed by one stressed

syllable. Examples are:

i. The Assy | rian came down | like a wolf | on the fold

X X / X X / X X / X X /

ii. But I hate | to be cheat | ed and ne | ver will buy

X X / X X / X X / X X /

4) Dactylic foot

Dactylic foot has three syllables, reverse with Anapestic foot. In dactylic,

the first syllable is stressed, while the second and the third syllables are


19

unstressed, it is represented in “ / X X” to describe the first stressed syllable which

is followed by two unstressed syllables. Example include :

i. Take her up | tenderly | lift her with | care

/ X X / X X / X X /

ii. Eve with her | basket was | deep in the | bells and grass

/ X X / X X / X X / X X

5) Spondaic foot

Spondaic foot has two syllables which the two of the syllables are stressed,

and it is represented in “ / / “ to show the two stressed syllables. For example:

i. Heart break

/ /

ii. Draw back

/ /

In addition to the type of metrical feet, there are also the numbers of feet in

each line. Arp and Johnson (2009, p.839) summarizes several types of meter in

English. The division of each foot is symbolized by ( | ) sign :

1) Monometer (one foot), for example::

i. Receive

X / (iambic, one foot)

ii. Understand

X X / (anapestic, one foot)

2) Dimeter (two feet), examples include:

i. I woke up | on a boat


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ii. Rousing the | girl, in her | sleep in the | sight, form the | fear of the | bed

tick

/ X X / X X / X X / X X / X X /

/ (dactylic, six feet)

The most common form of meter in poetry written in English is iambic

pentameter which has five feet and each feet composed by two syllables

(unstressed, stressed).

c. Alliteration, Consonance, and Assonance

The further analysis of phonological level is about the other poetic devices

like assonance, consonance, and alliteration. The employment of assonance,

consonance, and alliteration is refered to segmental sound features. These sound

strategies repeat some particular sounds whether they are consonants or vowels.

1) Alliteration

According to Arp and Johnson (2009), alliteration is “the repetition of

initial consonant sounds” (p.820). It is supported by Bradford who defines

alliteration as “the repetition of clusters of similar consonant sounds within

individual lines and across sequences of lines” (2005, p.16). Agemo (2011, p.21)

adds that alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant in two or more

adjacent words. It can be concluded that alliteration occurs when the initial

consonant sound of some couples of words is repeated. For example, “She sells

sea-shells down by the sea-shore”. In this phrases, all the words start with the /s/

sound.


22

2) Consonance

Consonance is nearly similar to alliteration. Alliteration repeats the initial

consonant sounds, while consonance repeats the final consonant sounds. Madden

(2002) states that consonance occurs when some couples of consonant sounds are

repeated (p.70). It is supported by Arp and Johnson (2009) who state that

consonance is “the repetition of final consonant sound” (p.820). It can be

concluded that consonance occurs when the final consonant sound of some

couples of words is repeated. For example, “If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,

a hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer”. In that one of poem’s line, the

consonant sound of / r / is repeated in the end of the words.

3) Assonance

The other segmental sound feature that can be found in the poem is

assonance. Simpson mentions that the type of vowel harmony that consolidates

points of equivalence across the poetic line, known as assonance (2004, p.52).

Bradford (2005) explains that “assonance is the repetition of clusters of similar

vowel within individual lines and across sequences of lines (p.16). When the same

vowel sound is repeated in adjancent words, it is called as assonance, for example

Fake mates (McLoughlin, 2000:21). In that example, the vowel sound of / eɪ / is

repeated in the words.

3. Poem

Arp and Johnson state that “poetry might be defined as a kind of language

that says more and says it more intensely than does ordinary language” (2009,


23

p.633). Therefore, it can be said that poetry is one of literary works which brings

the reader a sense and a perception of life, and it concern is with experience.

Literary language and poetry as a part of it use the poetic function to make

the language more beautiful. Jakobson (1987) states that poetic function relates to

the aesthetic and artistic aspects of language, it is also mainly used in literature

and poetry (pp.72-73). “To study literature, is to study ‘poetics’, which is ‘an

analysis of a work’s constituent parts, its linguistic and structural features, or its

‘form’ ” (Bresseler, 2007, p.51). Bresseler adds that ‘form’ is called ‘devices’

which include the artfulness and literariness of any text. It can be concluded that

poetic devices are the methods of arrangement of the words which can assist the

writer in developing expressions pleasing to his readers. Some poetic devices are

based on the sound instrumentation of the text which connotes a certain

atmosphere or mood.

C. Theoretical Framework

According to the theories that have been discussed, the focus of this study

is on the phonological level of stylistics. Therefore, there are two main points to

be analyzed in this study. The first point is the phonological features found in

“Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems and the second point is the

feature contribution to Robert Frost’s style in making poems.

The theory of the phonology is needed to answer the first point. The

researcher uses the phonological levels of analysis in stylistics proposed by

Verdonk (2002). The analysis will cover the phonological features of analysis


24

such as rhyme, meter, alliteration, consonance, and assonance. These

phonological devices help the writer to guide what phonological features are

found in the poems.

Moreover, to answer the second point, the result of the problem in the first

point will be related to the style of Robert Frost in making poems. The result of

the first problem will cover rhyme, meter, alliteration, consonance, and assonance.

From the result of the first point, the style of Robert Frost will be analyzed by

relating those phonological features with the definition of poem and Robert

Frost’s poem. As a result, this study will find the style of Robert Frost in making

poem through the phonological features of his “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold

Can Stay”.


25

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter is divided into three parts. They are object of the study,

approach of the study, and method of the study. The object of the study

emphasizes linguistic features that will be analyzed based on the data. The

approach of the study describes what kind of approaches that is used to analyze

the linguistic features. The method of the study shows the ways of collecting and

analyzing the data.

A. Object of the Study

The object in the research focused on poems by Robert Frost. In this

research, the writer used two of Robert Frost’s poems: “Fire and Ice” and

“Nothing Gold Can Stay”. Those two poems were obtained from New Hampshire.

This book was published in 1923 by Henry Holt & amp Company. The first poem,

“Fire and Ice”, has one stanza which consists of nine lines. On the other hand, the

second poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, has one stanza which consists of eight

lines.

The objects of the study are focused on the phonological level of stylistics

which overwhelmed the analysis of suprasegmental sound features (rhyme and

meter) and segmental sound features (alliteration, consonance, and assonance). In

rhyme, the data covered the repetition of the arrangement of the nucleus (vowel)

and coda (final consonant) at the end of each line of the poems. In meter, the data


26

were the types of the metrical feet of each line in the poems. In alliteration, the

data related to the repetition of initial consonant words of each poem’s line. In

consonance, the data covered the repetition of final consonant words of each line

in the poems. At last, in assonance, the data covered the repetition of vowel sound

in each poem’s line.

B. Approach of the Study

Stylistics became the approach to the analysis of texts (literary). Stylistics

is the approach of the analysis of texts (literary) that used linguistic descriptors in

which it includes a limit of two subjects, literature and linguistics (Short, 1996,

p.1). Stylistic approach is appropriate to use in this research because the data used

in this research is literary work. The stylistic approach in this study becomes the

groundwork for analyzing two selected poems of Robert Frost. The analysis of

this study is made under the aspects of phonological level of stylistics which

covers rhyme, meter, alliteration, consonance, and assonance.

C. Method of the Study

1. Data Collection

This study conducted a data population method which means the similarity

in characteristics between one group of statistics (Best, 2006, p.13). In this study,

the population was the whole data in two poems of Robert Frost, “Fire and Ice”

and “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. Moreover, the study aimed to find out the


27

phonological features found in two selected poems of Robert Frost. There were

several steps of collecting the data.

Firstly, the writer came to a decision to analyze Robert Frost’s poems. The

first consideration to analyze Robert Frost’s poems was because the length of

poems was shorter than playwright. The second consideration was because Robert

Frost is the poet who concerned with meter and length of lines. Then, the writer

limited the scope of the study. As Frost concerned with daily life which occurs in

his life and his surrounding and also nature, the writer decided to analyze the

poems which portray Robert Frost’s life and its surrounding.

Thirdly, the writer read the book of Robert Frost’s poems to search for the

poems that would be analyzed. The writer came to a decision to select two poems

which was in one book, entitled New Hampshire that made Frost get his first

Pulitzer. The sound of the two poems should be rhyming.

.

2. Data Analysis

In order to analyze the phonological features found in “Fire and Ice” and

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems, the analysis of the study was based on the

phonological level of stylistics. It dealt with the rhyme, meter, assonance, and

alliteration. There were two research problems which were formulated. Therefore,

some steps were employed in the subsequent parts to answer the first problem.

First, the writer analyzed the segmental sound features of the poems. It

overwhelmed alliteration, consonance, and assonance of the poems. In alliteration,

the writer found out the repetition of the initial consonant sound in the two poems.


28

In the part of analyzing consonance, the writer observed the repetition of the final

consonant sound on the poems. Then, the writer analyzed the assonance of the

two poems. The writer found out the repetition of vowel sound which occurred on

the two poems.

Second, the writer analyzed the suprasegmental sound features of the

poems. In this part, the writer analyzed rhyme and meter which occurred in the

poems. The analysis of rhyme focused on the repetition of the arrangement of the

nucleus (vowel) and the coda (final consonant) at the end of two or more lines in

the poems. After the rhymes of the poems were found, the writer analyzed the

type of rhyme and the rhyme scheme of the poems. Next, the writer analyzed the

meter of the poems. This meter analysis focused on the metrical feet of the poems.

The metrical feet consist of the type of foot and the number of feet, such as iambic

pentameter, trochaic trimeter, dactylic octameter, etc.

Moreover, in order to answer the second problem, the writer obtained the

phonological features. Those phonological features have been gained as the

results of the first problem. The writer related each phonological feature which

occurs in “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems to reveal the style

of Robert Frost in making poems.


29

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter divided into two main parts of discussions. The first part

analyzes the phonological features found in Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” and

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems. It answers the first problem. The second part

discusses how those features can constitute the style of Robert Frost in making

poems. It answers the second problem of the study.

A. Phonological Features in Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing

Gold Can Stay”

This analysis divided into segmental sound features and supra-segmental

sound features. The segmental sound features overwhelm alliteration, consonance,

and assonance, while the supra-segmental sound features overwhelm rhyme and

meter. The analysis includes the phonetic transcriptions of the words and those are

placed inside slash brackets.

1. “Fire and Ice” Poem

a. Segmental Sound Features

Robert Frost has used some segmental sound features in “Fire and Ice”

poem. It consists of some sound devices such as alliteration, assonance, and

consonance, though most of them only appear as the aesthetic function in the

poem. However, it turns out that some sound devices can help the writer to find


30

out Robert Frost’s style in making poem. In this analysis, the writer focuses on the

repeated sounds employed by the poet. Therefore, those will be presented in the

following discussion.

First, other than the segmental sound features like alliteration and

consonance, the most significant finding in this poem is the assonance that helps

the writer to suggest the style of Robert Frost. Bradford (2005) explains that

“assonance is the repetition of clusters of similar vowel within individual lines

and across sequences of lines” (p.16). Consequently, the repeated sounds which

found in “Fire and Ice” poem provided in Table 1.

Table 1. Assonance Found in “Fire and Ice”

Line Assonance

1 Some say the world will end in fire / ɪ /

3 From what I’ve tasted of desire / ɒ /

3 From what I’ve tasted of desire / aɪ /

4 I hold with those who favor fire / aɪ /

4 I hold with those who favor fire / əʊ /

4 I hold with those who favor fire / ə /

5 But if it had to perish twice / ɪ /

6 I think I know enough of hate / ɪ /

6 I think I know enough of hate / aɪ /

From the table above, the assonance found in this poem are the vowel / ɪ /,

/ ɒ /, / aɪ /, / əʊ /, and / ə /. The front high lax vowel / ɪ / is repeated in lines 1, 5,

and 6. Also, line 3 repeats the vowel / ɒ / in words “from” and “of”. Moreover, it

can be stated that this sound device supports the remembrance of the title which

can be seen in line 3 with words “I’ve” and “desire”, line 4 with words “I” and


31

“fire”, and line 6 with pronoun “I” and “I” that repeats dipthong / aɪ /. This poem

also uses the repetition of diphthong / əʊ / with the words “hold” and “those”

which occur in line 4. In line 4, the central mid lax vowel / ə / is also repeated by

the words “favor” and “fire”.

Therefore, it can be seen that the front high lax vowel / ɪ / and diphtong / aɪ

/ dominates “Fire and Ice” poem. The front high lax vowel / ɪ / is repeated in line

1, 5 and 6 with the words “will”, “in”, “if”, “it”, “think”, and “enough”, while the

dipthong / aɪ / is repeated in lines 3,4, and 6 with the words “I’ve”, “desire”, “I”,

and “fire”. The other assonance such as / ɒ /, diphtong / əʊ /, and central mid lax

vowel / ə / are repeated in lines 3 and 4 in the words “from”, “of”, “hold”, “those”,

“favor”, and “fire”. The poem has more assonance than the other sound devices,

such as alliteration and consonance.

Second, the segmental sound features found in this poem is the alliteration.

According to Arp and Johnson (2009), alliteration is “the repetition of initial

consonant sounds” (p.820). The alliteration also suggests the style of Robert Frost

in making poem. Moreover, the repeatition of initial sounds will be provided in

Table 2.

Table 2. Alliteration Found in “Fire and Ice”

Line Alliteration

1 Some say the world will end in fire / s /

1 Some say the world will end in fire / w /

2 Some say in ice / s /

4 I hold with those who favor fire / h /

4 I hold with those who favor fire / f /


32

5 But if it had to perish twice / t /

From the table above, the alliteration of the poem can be found in lines 1,

2, 4 and 5. The alveolar voiceless consonant / s / and bilabial voiced / w / are

repeated in line 1. The alveolar voiceless consonant / s / repeated in the words

“some” and “say”, whereas the bilabial voiced consonant / w / repeated in the

words “world” and “will”. In line 2, the alveolar voiceless consonant / s / is

repeated in the initial sound of words with the words “some” and “say”. There are

two repetitions of the initial sound that found in line 4. First, line 4 repeats the

glottal voiceless consonant / h / with the words “hold” and “who”. Second, the

repetition of the labio-dental voiceless consonant / f / with the words “favor” and

“fire” are found. The words in line 5 “to” and “twice” repeat the alveolar voiceless

consonant / t /.

Thus, it can be seen that the alveolar voiceless consonant / s / is commonly

found in this poem. The alveolar voiceless consonant / s / is repeated in lines 1

and 2 with the words “some” and “say”. The other alliteration such as bilabial

voiced consonant / w /, glottal voiceless consonant / h /, labio-dental voiced

consonant / f /, and alveolar voiceless consonant / t / is just repeated once in others

line. The bilabial voiced / w / is repeated in line 1 with the words “world” and

“will”. The glottal voiced consonant / h / is repeated in line 4 with the words

“hold” and “who”. The labio-dental voiceless consonant / f / is repeated in line 4

with the words “favor” and “fire”. The alveolar voiceless consonant / t / is

repeated in line 5 with the words “to” and “twice”. This poem uses alliteration

rarely. The alliteration just found in 5 lines of the poem.


33

Last, Frost also applies the consonance in “Fire and Ice” poem. Arp and

Johnson states that consonance is “the repetition of final consonant sound” (2009,

p.820).. Consequently, the repetition of final consonant sound will be provided in

Table 3.

Table 3. Consonance Found in “Fire and Ice”

Line Consonance

1 Some say the world will end in fire / d /

5 But if it had to perish twice / t /

From the table above, the consonance sound that found in this poem are / d

/ and / t /. The alveolar voiced consonant / d / is repeated in line 1 in the words

“end” and “in”. The repetition of the alveolar voiceless consonant / t / appears in

line 5 in the words “but” and “it”.

It can be seen that the alveolar voiced consonant / d / and alveolar

voiceless consonant / t / just appears in two lines of this poem. Each of alveolar

voiced consonant / d / and alveolar voiceless consonant / t / is repeated once. It is

repeated in lines 1 and 5. The alveolar voiced consonant / d / is repeated in the

words “world” and “end”. While, the alveolar voiceless consonant / t / is repeated

in the words “but” and “it”.

Therefore, by this analysis, it is clear that the poet uses all sound devices

which are assonance, consonance, and alliteration in his poem entitled “Fire and

Ice”. The poet uses assonance more frequently in each line of this poem. These all

sound devices show that the poet cares about the use of some repetition of sound

in his poem.


34

b. Supra-Segmental Sound Features

Robert Frost has also used some supra-segmental sound features in his

“Fire and Ice” poem. It consists of rhyme which includes the patterns and the

forms of the poem and meter which includes the metrical feet of the poem. Both

rhyme and meter also help the writer to find out the Robert Frost’s style in making

poem. In this analysis, the writer focuses on the patterns, the forms, and the

orderliness employed by the poet. Therefore, those will be presented in the

following discussion.

i. Rhyme

The analysis of the rhyme includes the patterns of the poem and the forms

of the poem. Both the patterns and the forms help to find the style of Robert Frost.

Rhyme is one of the supra-segmental features in poetry. Frost emphasizes the use

of repetition in rhymes to attract the listeners’ and the readers’ attention. In Robert

Frost’s “Fire and Ice”, an interesting use of rhymes is obvious.

The poem consists of one stanza, and it contains 9 lines. Frost uses his own

verse form in this poem. It means that he do not use any traditional verse in this

poem, but it is also not included into free verse because it is written in metrical

traditional form. Moreover, the rhymed lines can be seen from the examination of

this stanza of the poem. The use of numbering here is aimed to show the line of

the poem. The rhyme of the poem will be provided in table 4.


35

Table 4. Rhyme Found in “Fire and Ice”

Line Rhyme

1 Some say the world will end in fire /aɪə/

2 Some say in ice /aɪs/

3 From what I’ve tasted of desire /aɪə/

4 I hold with those who favor fire /aɪə/

5 But if it had to perish twice /aɪs/

6 I think I know enough of hate /eɪt/

7 To know that for destruction ice /aɪs/

8 Is also great /eɪt/

9 And would suffice /aɪs/

From the rhymed words above, the flow of the patterns is changing. The

end rhyme pattern of each line of the poem is categorized into A, B, and C. At this

poem, A is intended for end rhyme /aɪə/, B is intended for end rhyme /aɪs/, and C

is intended for end rhyme /eɪt/. At first, the first three lines of the poem are

patterned ABA. Then, the next three lines, lines 4 until lines 6, are patterned in

ABC end rhyme. In the last three lines, lines 7 until line 9, the patterns of the

rhymes are almost similar as the first three lines form rhyme. The difference is in

this last three lines is pattered BCB end rhyme. Thus, this poem has end rhyme

pattern ABAABCBCB. It is Frost’s own verse. Neither the traditional verse nor

free verse is used by Frost in this poem.

Moreover, from the rhymed words provided before, the poet mostly uses

diphthongs as the nucleus combined with the consonant which is roled as the

coda. In the first poem, the rhyme sound /aɪə/ is repeated in lines 1, 3, and 4,


36

which is represented by the words “fire” and “desire”. Lines 1, 3, and 4 have a

masculine or strong rhyme because the word “fire” is monosyllabic words and the

word “desire” has the stressed final syllable. The rhyme is in a form of Nucleus.

Another rhyming sound is /aɪs/, which is repeated in lines 2, 5, 7, and 9 by the

words “ice”, “twice”, and “suffice”. The words “ice”, “twice”, and “suffice” have

masculine rhyme. Masculine rhyme, also known as single rhyme, is a rhyme in

which the repeated accented vowel sound is in the final syllable of the words

involved (Arp&Johnson, 2009, p.1664). Thus, masculine rhyme is not only from

monosyllabic word but also the word which the repeated stressed sound is in the

final syllable, for example the word “suffice” above. The repeated rhyme consist

of Nucleus and Coda, which is similar in lines 6 and 8, shown by words “hate”

and “great”, which are monosyllabic. They are also categorized as masculine

rhyme. The sound repeated is /eɪt/. Therefore, the end rhyme of the poem is

ABAABCBCB.

ii. Meter

Instead of rhyme, meter is another supra-segmental sound feature which

can be observed in poetry. Gill (1995) defines that meter is “the regular rhythms

of poetic lines, created by a sequence of stressed or unstressed syllables” (p.387).

The analysis of meter includes the metrical feet of the poem and the number of

feet of the poem. Meter refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in

a line. In observing meter, the existence of foot in a line becomes prominent to

decide the type of meter (Simpson, 2004, p.15). The number of feet refers to the

number of the group of syllables which make up one metrical unit.


37

Moreover, the meter of the lines can be seen from the examination of this

stanza of the poem. The stressed syllables is represented in ( / ), the unstressed

syllables is represented in ( X ) and Therefore, the meter of the poem will be

provided in table 5. The use of numbering here is aimed to show the line of the

poem.

Table 5. Metrical Pattern Found in “Fire and Ice”

Line Meter

1 Some say | the world | will end | in fire

X / X / X / X /

2 Some say | in ice

X / X /

3 From what | I’ve tas | ted of | desire

X / X / X / X /

4 I hold | with those | who fa | vor fire

X / X / X / X /

5 But if | it had | to pe | rish twice

X / X / X / X /

6 I think | I know | enough | of hate

X / X / X / X /

7 To know | that for | destruc | tion ice

X / X / X / X /

8 Is al | so great

X / X /

9 And would | suffice

X / X /

From the meter above, it can be seen that the poem employs mix type of

meter. There are two types of meter used in “Fire and Ice” poem. This poem has

iambic tetrameter type and iambic dimeter type. Iambic tetrameter is the metrical

pattern that consist of four feet and each foot patterned unstressed and stressed

syllables. Then, iambic dimeter is the metrical pattern that consist of two feet and


38

each foot patterned unstressed and stressed syllables. Iambic tetrameter found in

lines 1 and 3 until 7, while iambic dimeter can be found in line 2, 8 and 9.

Lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 have an iambic tetrameter type of meter. Iambic

tetrameter can be seen from the number of feet and the type of foot form in each

foot. Two of examples, iambic tetrameter found in lines 1 and 3.

Line Meter

1 Some say | the world | will end | in fire

X / X / X / X /

3 From what | I’ve tas | ted of | desire

X / X / X / X /

Iambic tetrameter in line 1 can be seen from its type of foot which shows

the iambic foot. The iambic foot is the foot which the unstressed syllable followed

by the stressed syllable behind. In line 1, the words “some”, “the”, “will”, and

“in” are the unstressed syllables in that line. They are followed by the stressed

syllables word such as “say”, “world”, “end”, and “fire”. The unstressed and

stressed syllables form is called iambic. Then, the tetrameter which is found in

line 1 occurs because has four unstressed and stressed syllables form. Thus, it has

four feet, which is called tetrameter.

The second example is iambic tetrameter in line 3. The type of foot form

shows the iambic foot, which means that it has a metrical foot patterned

unstresssed syllable followed by stressed syllable. In this line, the words “from”,

“I’ve”, syllable “ted” from the word “tasted”, and syllable “de” from the word

“desire” are the unstressed syllables in that line. They are followed by the words

“what”, syllable “tas” from the word “tasted, “of”, and syllable “sire” in the word


39

“desire” which are stressed syllable. Similar to line 1 in this poem, this line also

has iambic tetrameter, which means there are four unstressed and stressed

syllables form.

Meanwhile, lines 2, 8, and 9 have an iambic dimeter type of meter. Iambic

dimeter also can be seen from the number of feet and the type of foot form in each

foot.

Line Meter

2 Some say | in ice

X / X /

8 Is al | so great

X / X /

9 And would | suffice

X / X /

Lines 2, 8, and 9 are written in iambic dimeter. It can be seen from its type

of foot which shows the iambic foot. The iambic foot is the foot which the

unstressed syllable followed by the stressed syllable. The words “some” and “in”

line 2, “is” and “so” in line 8, and “and” and syllable “suf” from the word

“suffice” in line 9 are the unstressed syllables found in those lines. They are

followed by the stressed syllables such as the word “say” and “ice” in line 2,

syllable “al” from the word “also” and the word “great” in line 8, “would” and

syllable “fice” from the word “suffice” in line 9. Then, the dimeter type can be

seen from the number of feet which found in the lines. In line 2, 8, and 9, they

have two feet, which is called dimeter.


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2. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Poem

a. Segmental Sound Features

Robert Frost has also used some segmental sound features in his “Nothing

Gold Can Stay” poem. It consists of some sound devices such as alliteration,

assonance, and consonance. In this poem, some sound devices also can help the

writer to find the Robert Frost’s style in making poem. In this analysis, the writer

focuses on the repeated sounds employed by the poet. Therefore, those will be

presented in the following discussion.

First, similar to “Fire and Ice” poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem also

has the assonance as the most significant finding other than the segmental sound

features like alliteration and consonance. The assonance helps the writer to

suggest the style of Robert Frost. Bradford (2005) explains that “assonance is the

repetition of clusters of similar vowel within individual lines and across sequences

of lines (p.16). Consequently, the repetition of vowel sound is provided in Table

6.

Table 6. Assonance Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

Line Assonance

2 Her hardest hue to hold / u: /

3 Her early leaf’s a flower / ɜ /

4 But only so an hour / əʊ /

5 Then leaf subsides to leaf / i: /

6 So Eden sank to grief / i: /

7 So dawn goes down to day / əʊ /


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From the table above, the assonance that found are the vowel / i: /, / əʊ /, /

u: /, and / ɜ /. The front mid lax vowel / ɜ / is repeated in lines 3 with the words

“her” and “early”. Also, line 2 repeats the high back rounded tense vowel / u: / in

words “hue” and “to”. This poem also uses the repetition of front high tense high

front tense vowel / i: / with the words “leaf” and “leaf” which occur in line 5. This

vowel also repeated in line 6 by the words “Eden” and “grief”. Moreover, it can

be stated that this assonance supports the remembrance of the title which can be

seen in line 4 with the words “only” and “so”, and also in line 7 with the words

“goes” and “down” that repeats the diphthong / əʊ /.

It can be seen that two of the assonance in this poem are appeared mostly.

The high front tense vowel / i: / and the diphthong / əu /. The front mid lax vowel

/ ɜ / is repeated lines 2 and 3 in the words “her”, “hardest”, and “a”. The

diphthong / əʊ / is repeated in lines 4 and 7 in the words “only”, “so”, “goes”, and

“down”. The high front tense vowel / i: / is repeated in sequence in lines 5 and 6

with the words “leaf”, “Eden”, and “grief”. The repetition of vowel sound almost

repeated in every line except line 1 and line 8.

Second, the segmental sound features found in this poem is the alliteration.

Arp and Johnson (2009) stated that alliteration is “the repetition of initial

consonant sounds” (p.820). The alliteration also suggests the style of Robert Frost

in making poem. Moreover, the repeatition of initial sounds will be provided in

Table 7.


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Table 7. Alliteration Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

Line Alliteration

1 Nature’s first green is gold / g /

2 Her hardest hue to hold / h /

5 Then leaf subsides to leaf / l /

6 So Eden sank to grief / s /

7 So dawn goes down to day / d /

The alliteration of the poem can be found in lines 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7. The

velar voiced consonant / g / sound is repeated in line 1. The velar voiced

consonant / g / sound is repeated with the words “green” and “gold”. In line 2, the

glottal voiceless consonant / h / sound is repeated in the initial sound of words

with the words “her”, “hardest”, “hue” and “hold”. Next, the repetition of the

alveolar voiced consonant / l / sound in the words “leaf” and “leaf” occurs in line

5. Then, line 6 repeats the initial alveolar voiceless consonant / s / sound in the

words “so” and “sank”. Last, the words in line 7 “dawn” and “down” repeat the

alveolar voiced consonant / d / sound.

It can be seen that every lines of the poem has different alliteration. The

first line repeats the velar voiced consonant / g / in the words “green” and “gold”.

The glottal voiceless consonant / h / is repeated in the words “her”, “hardest”,

“hue”, and “hold” in the next line. Then, the alveolar voiced consonant / l / is

repeated in line 5 with the words “leaf” and “leaf”. The alveolar voiceless

consonant / s / is repeated in line 6 with the words “so” and “sank”. Last, the

alveolar voiced consonant / d / is repeated in line 7 with the words “dawn” and


43

“down”. The repetitions of initial consonant sound in this poem are found in 5

lines.

Last, Frost also applies the consonance in “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem.

Arp and Johnson states that consonance is the repetition of final consonant sound

(p.820). Consequently, the consonance sound will be provided in Table 8.

Table 8. Consonance Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

Line Consonance

1 Nature’s first green is gold / z /

5 Then leaf subsides to leaf / f /

7 So dawn goes down to day / n /

From the table above, the consonance sound that found in this poem are / z

/, / n /, and / f /. First, the alveolar voiced consonant / z / is repeated in line 1 in the

words “nature’s” and “is”. Next, the repetition of the labio-dental voiceless

consonant / f / appears in line 5 of the poem. The words “leaf” and “leaf” repeats

that consonant sound. The alveolar voiced consonant sound / n / is repeated in line

7 in the words “dawn” and “down”.

It can be seen that the consonance found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

poem is just found in three lines. Line 1 is repeated the alveolar voiced consonant

/ z / in the words “nature’s” and “is”. Line 5 is repeated the labio-dental voiceless

consonant / f / in the words “leaf”. Last, the alveolar voiced consonant / n / is

repeated in line 7. The repetition of final consonant sound found just in three lines

of this poem. There is not any consonance found in lines 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8.


44

Therefore, by this analysis, it is clear that the poet uses all sound devices

which is assonance, consonance, and alliteration in his poem entitled “Nothing

Gold Can Stay”. The poet uses assonance more frequently in each line of this

poem. These all sound devices show that the poet cares about the use of some

repetition of sound in his poem.

b. Supra-Segmental Sound Features

Robert Frost has also used some supra-segmental sound features in his

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem. It consists of rhyme which includes the patterns

and the forms of the poem and meter which includes the metrical feet of the poem.

As similar with the first poem, both rhyme and meter in this poem also help the

writer to find out the Robert Frost’s style in making poem. In this analysis, the

writer focuses on the patterns, the forms, and the orderliness employed by the

poet. Therefore, those will be presented in the following discussion.

i. Rhyme

The analysis of the rhyme includes the patterns of the poem and the forms

of the poem. Both the patterns and the forms help to find the style of Robert Frost.

Rhyme is one of the supra-segmental features in poetry. Frost emphasizes the use

of repetition in rhymes to attract the listeners’ and the readers’ attention. An

interesting use of rhymes is obvious in Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.

The poem consists of one stanza, and it contains 8 lines. Frost uses the

heroic couplet rhyme form in this poem, which means that the form patterned AA,


45

BB, CC. Moreover, the lines rhymed can be seen from the table below. The use of

numbering here is aimed to show the line of the poem.

Table 9. Rhyme Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

Line Rhyme

1 Nature’s first green is gold /əʊld/

2 Her hardest hue to hold /əʊld/

3 Her early leaf’s a flower /aʊə/

4 But only so an hour /aʊə/

5 Then leaf subsides to leaf /iːf/

6 So Eden sank to grief /iːf/

7 So dawn goes down to day /eɪ/

8 Nothing gold can stay /eɪ/

From the rhymed words above, the rhyme patterns can be drawn, the flow

of the patterns is changing but patterned in sequence. The rhyme of the poem is

changed every two lines of the poem. The end rhyme pattern of each line of the

poem is categorized into A, B, C, and D. At this poem, A is intended for end

rhyme /əʊld/, B is intended for end rhyme /aʊə/, C is intended for end rhyme /i:f/,

and D is inteneded for end rhyme /eɪ/. At first the first two lines of the poem is

patterned in couplet with /əʊld/ end rhyme which is patterned AA. Then, the next

two lines, lines 3 and 4, also pattern in couplet with /aʊə/ end rhyme which is

patterned BB. Next, lines 5 and 6 have /iːf/ end rhyme which is patterned CC also

includes in couplet type of rhyme. Last, couplet form also found in last two lines

of the poem. Lines 7 and 8 rhymed /eɪ/ which is patterned DD.


46

Moreover, from the rhymed words provided before, Frost employs four

rhyming sounds: /əʊld/ , /aʊə/ , /iːf/ , and /eɪ/. The first and third rhymes are in

the form of Nucleus and Coda, different from the second and fourth rhymes,

which is just a Nucleus. The sound /əʊld/ is repeated in line 1 and 2, shown by the

words “hold” and “gold”. Both words have masculine rhyme because both are

monosyllabic words. The next sound, /aʊə/ is repeated in lines 3 and 4, by the

words “flower” and “hour”. The two words in line 3 and 4 have masculine rhyme.

Lines 5 and 6 are represented by the rhyme /iːf/ shown in the words “leaf” and

“grief”. The end rhyme of those words is stressed, so they are called masculine

rhyme. The last rhyme, /eɪ/ is repeated in lines 7 and 8 by the words “day” and

“stay”, which are monosyllabic. Those two lines also have masculine rhyme. The

poem use couplet types which is the end rhyme is AABBCCDD.

ii. Meter

Besides rhyme, meter is also included in the analysis of supra-segmental

sound features. Gill (1995) defines that meter is “the regular rhythms of poetic

lines, created by a sequence of stressed or unstressed syllables” (p.387). The

analysis of meter includes the metrical feet of the poem and the number of feet of

the poem. Meter refers to the pattern aof stressed and unstressed syllables in a

line. In observing meter, the existence of foot in a line becomes prominent to

decide the type of meter. The number of feet refers to the number of the group of

syllables which make up one metrical unit.


47

The stressed syllables is represented in ( / ) and the unstressed syllables is

represented in ( X ). Moreover, the meter of the poem will be provided in table 5.

The use of numbering here is aimed to show the line of the poem.

Table 10. Metrical Pattern Found in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

Line Meter

1 Nature’s | first green | is gold

/ X X / X /

2 Her hard | est hue | to hold

X / X / X /

3 Her ear | ly leaf’s | a flower

X / X / X /

4 But on | ly so | an hour

X / X / X /

5 Then leaf | subsides | to leaf

X / X / X /

6 So E | den sank | to grief

X / X / X /

7 So dawn | goes down | to day

X / X / X /

8 Nothing gold | can stay

/ X / X /

From the meter above, it can be seen that the poem employs mix type of

meter. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem is predominantly iambic trimeter type in

rhythm, except the open and end lines which contain unmetrical feet. The

dominant type of meter, iambic trimeter, is found in lines 2 until 7. Iambic

trimeter is a metrical pattern consisting of three feet and each foot patterned

unstressed and stressed syllable. While lines 1 and 8 have different type of meter.

Line 1 has three feet and the combination of trochaic and iambic. The unmetrical


48

form can be found in line 8. Trochaic meter is a metrical foot which consist of

stressed and unstressed syllable.

Lines 2 until 7 have an iambic trimeter type of meter. Iambic trimeter can

be seen from the number of feet and the type of foot form in each foot. Two of the

examples are iambic trimeter found in lines 2 and 7.

Line Meter

2 Her hard | est hue | to hold

X / X / X /

7 So dawn | goes down | to day

X / X / X /

It can be seen from its type of foot which shows the iambic foot. The

iambic foot is the foot which the unstressed syllable followed by the stressed

syllable behind. In line 2, the words “her”, syllable “dest” from the word

“hardest”, and “to” are the unstressed syllables in that line. They are followed by

the stressed syllables words, which are syllable “har” from the word “hardest”,

“hue”, and “hold”. The unstressed and stressed syllables form is called iambic.

Although the trimeter which found in line 2 occurs because of it has three

unstressed and stressed syllables form. Therefore, it has three feet, which is called

trimeter.

The second example is iambic trimeter in line 7. The type of foot form

shows the iambic foot, which means that it has a metrical foot patterned

unstresssed syllable followed by stressed syllable. In this line, the words “so”,

“goes”, and “to” are the unstressed syllable in that line. They are followed by the

words “dawn”, “down”, and “day”, which are stressed syllable. Similar to line 2


49

in this poem, this line also has iambic trimeter, which means there are three

unstressed and stressed syllables form.

Meanwhile, line 1 has an unmetrical feet pattern. Line 1 has a mix type of

meter. Line 1 also has trimeter type. It can be seen from the number of the type of

foot occurs in each foot. It has three feet, which is called trimeter. On the other

hand, the type of foot in this line has variation. The first foot has trochaic foot,

which is stressed syllable followed by unstressed syllables form. The stressed

syllable can be see from the syllable “na” in the word “nature’s” and the

unstressed syllable can be seen from the syllable “ture’s” in the word “nature’s”.

The second and third foot have iambic form, which is unstressed syllable followed

by stressed syllables form. The unstressed syllables can be seen from the word

“is” and the word “first”. The stressed syllable can be seen from the word “green”

and the word “gold”.

Line Meter

1 Nature’s | first green | is gold

/ X X / X /

Then, the unmetrical form can be seen in line 8. The unmetrical foot

occurs in the first foot of the line. This foot consists of three syllables, which are

stressed , unstressed, and followed by stressed syllable. The stressed syllables can

be seen from the syllable “no” from the word “nothing” and the word “gold”.

While, the unstressed syllable can be seen from the syllable “thing” from the word

“nothing”. The iambic foot and the unmetrical foot is seen from its type of foot

form which shows the iambic foot. The iambic foot is the foot which is formed by


50

the unstressed syllable followed by the stressed syllable. The unstressed syllable

can be seen from the word “can” and the stressed syllable can be seen from the

word “stay”.

Line Meter

8 Nothing gold | can stay

/ X / X /

Although the dimeter type can be seen from the two feet which found in

line 8, this line still has unmetrical form. The unmetrical form occurs because of

the first foot of the line just has unmetrical form with the stressed, unstressed, and

stressed syllables. Thus, this line cannot be formed any metrical feet.

B. Phonological Features’s Contribution to Robert Frost’s Style

Based on phonological features that are found in Robert Frost’s poems,

which is entitled “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, the style of Robert

Frost in making a poem can be found. This research finds that Robert Frost has

rhythmical style in making his poems. It can be seen from the rhyme, meter,

alliteration, assonance, and consonance that had been analyzed above. There are

some features that support the rhytmical style of Robert Frost on making his

poem.

The first is regularity of the rhyme. The analysis of rhyme above shows

that Robert Frost uses a different rhyme pattern in “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing

Gold Can Stay” poems. First, “Fire and Ice” poem has ABAABCBCB end rhyme

and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem has AABBCCDD end rhyme. It shows that


51

Robert Frost does not always use the same rhyme end pattern in each of his

poems. Although the two poems have a different end rhyme pattern, but the two

poems still have a patterned rhyme that is good for the readers. The end rhyme

pattern in “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem and “Fire and Ice” reveals that Frost is

in an attempt to attract the audience or the reader to enjoy the rhyme of his poem.

“Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems also have different

types of verse. Frost did not apply traditional verse in “Fire and Ice”, he applied

his own verse. While “Nothing Gold Can Stay” has couplet verse rhyme. Couplet

verse is a verse that has any meter with lines rhyming in pairs, such as AA, BB,

CC, DD (Boulton, 1982, p.144). Although both of the poems have different type

of verse, it still shows that both of them have rhymes which arranged and

patterned. It also shows that Robert Frost used traditional verse rhyme in making

his poems.

Second is the domination of masculine rhyme. The uniqueness of Robert

Frost or the style possessed by Robert Frost in making a poem is also found in the

type of rhyme he uses. In making his poems, Robert Frost often uses masculine

rhyme. From what the writer has analyzed above, Robert Frost uses the masculine

rhyme in “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems. He uses a

masculine rhyme in every line of the poem he makes. He uses a masculine rhyme

to make every line in the poem have a meaningful clarity. Rhymes that occur on

the stressed syllables are masculine. It is not only monosyllabic rhymes, but also

the rhyming words of two or more syllables are masculine if the final syllable is

stressed. Frost tries to make his poem strong because masculine rhyme has a


52

stressed final syllable. This stressed word has a purpose to make the reader on

through the poem. Besides that, this rhyming tends to produce a pronounced or

emphatic effect. Frost applies single syllable rhyming to make a pointed and

telling impact to the reader or listener.

Third is the regularity in using the meter. The style of Robert Frost in

making his poems also can be seen from the meter that he used. He is a unique

poet. He always adheres to not only rhyme but also the meter of the poem. From

the analysis above, it can be seen that Robert Frost often uses the iambic meter for

his poems. He writes both of his poems, entitled “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing

Gold Can Stay”, in iambic meter. Frost just uses the combination meter to start

the poem in “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.

Although Robert Frost has consistency with iambic meter in making his

poems, he also keeps thinking of the diversity in his poetry. As he applied in his

two poems entitled "Fire and Ice" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay", Frost remains

consistent with using iambic meter as the dominant foot but so as not to be

monotonous, he makes the number of meters in each line fickle. In the poem "Fire

and Ice", Frost always uses iambic foot from the first line to the last line, but he

applies two different kinds of meters in his poem. He uses iambic tetrameter and

iambic dimeter to make the poem more memorable and more pleasant.

Meanwhile, in his poem entitled "Nothing Gold Can Stay", Frost employs

the dominance of iambic trimeter. However, there is a little difference in the poem

made by Robert Frost. Frost changes the foot type at the beginning and end of the

poem. At the beginning of the poem, Frost used an unmetrical foot to start the


53

poem and end the poem by repeating the title of the poem. The use of meter at this

poem indicates that Frost is a poet that adheres to the meter. He always makes his

well-designed poems. It means that he wants the poems he keeps to be patterned

and also shows the readers aware of the rhythmic sound effect and how poetry

should be read by them. Rhythmic sound is actual and real. In poetry, the actuality

is language arranged in sentences, with varying emotions, dramatic contrasts of

meaning and tone, the revelation of the speaker’s situation (Arp&Johnson, 2009,

p.838). All these are expressed through the sounds of language, which creates

meanings and implications.

From the discussion above, Robert Frost's style in making poetry in terms

of meters is found. Frost always uses the meter in making his poems to make the

poem more memorable and more pleasant. Frost often uses iambic foot in making

his poems. The meter makes Frost’s poems is not monotonous. He is also a well-

designed poet, this is proven from the analysis of the two poems above.

Fourth is the use of repetition of sounds in his poems. In addition to

rhymes and meters, Robert Frost also uses repetition of sounds in making his

poems. This is proven from the two poems from Robert Frost that have been

analyzed entitled "Fire and Ice" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay". Robert Frost used

several repetitions of sound in both poems.

First, his poem entitled "Fire and Ice" employs several repetitions of

sound. Frost applies assonance which is a repetition of vowels contained in

poetry, consonance which is a repetition of the final consonant sound, and

alliteration which is a repetition of the initial consonant sound. In this poem, Frost


54

applies more to the repetition of vowels on each line because the title of the poem

is dominated by vowel sounds. This poem had nine repetition of the vowel sound.

The mostly vowel that appeared in this poem are the front high lax vowel / ɪ / and

the diphthong / aɪ /. Then, Frost also applied some repetition of the initial

consonant sound or alliteration. He used five repetition of initial consonant sound

and the most appeared sound is the alveolar voiceless consonant / s /. He also

uses a little repetition of the final consonant sound.

Next, his poem entitled "Nothing Gold Can Stay" also uses some

repetition of sounds. Similar to the "Fire and Ice" poem, Frost also uses

assonance, consonance, and alliteration in this poem. The difference in this poem

with the poem "Fire and Ice" is that Frost uses sound repetition of assonance,

consonance, and alliteration evenly.

In the use of repetition, Frost also would like to show the implication of

the words that has some repetition of sound. One of the example is the repetition

of diphthong / aɪ / in “Fire and Ice”, the diphthong / aɪ / is the dominating

assonance in the poem. It is mostly repeated in the word “I”. The word is adressed

to the author. It shows the way Frost tells about his experience encounters people

who feel the effects of war. It is not only the word “I” that mostly repeated by the

repetition of sound in “Fire and Ice” poem, but also the word “fire” that is

repeated by the diphthong / aɪ /, the vowel / ə /, and the consonant / f /. This word

is adressed to “desire” or the emotions like “love”. The other example is the word

“leaf” in “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem. The word “leaf” has some repetition of

sound. The vowel / i: /, the consonant / l /, and the consonant / f / are repeated


55

with the other word in one line of the poem. The word is adressed to leaf in the

spring. It shows the way Frost tells the relation between the leaf and the human

condition in the poem. It can be said that Frost also tries to emphasis the

significance of the word by adding some repetition of sound in that word.

Last is the emphasis of the title of his poems. Robert Frost often

emphasizes the reader to remember the title by repeating the title of the poem.

Robert Frost repeats the title of the poem in several ways. As in his poem entitled

“Fire and Ice”, he repeats the title of the poem with the end rhyme sound. “Fire

and Ice” poem repeats the end rhyme sound /aɪə/ and /aɪs/, which is repeated the

end sound of the word “fire” and “ice” in the title. Meanwhile, in “Nothing Gold

Can Stay” poem, Robert Frost emphasizes the title to the reader by repeating the

title in the last line of the poem.

The repetition of this sound indicates that Frost is a poet who is very

concerned about the beauty of his poetry. Frost makes his poems have a musical

sound with this sound repetition. In addition, Frost not only gives emphasis to the

title of poetry through rhyme alone, but he also tries to be consistent in the

emphasis of his poetry title through repetition of sound. As in the "Fire and Ice"

and "Nothing Gold Can Stay" poems above, the repetition of sound in both poems

emphasizes the titles of each poem. In the poem "Fire and Ice", the diphthong/ aɪ /

mostly appears in that poem which is in line with the diphthong of the title of the

poem “Fire and Ice”. Meanwhile, in “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem, Frost also

often repeats the diphthong / əʊ / which is the same as the diphthong of the title of

the poem. This shows Frost's consistency in emphasizing the title of his poem that


56

has the same vowel as the dominating vowel in the poem. Frost wants to remind

his listeners about vowel used in the title.

From the analyses above, it can be seen that Frost often uses traditional

verse in making his poems. In the case of rhyme, he often uses masculine rhyme

to strengthen his poem so that the reader drowns into the poem. Then, as a poet,

Frost is a poet who really adheres to the meter. He is a very strong poet in the use

of meters in his poem. It stresses the previous finding that he wants his poems to

look neat when read or heard. Frost is also a poet who is not monotonous or uses

the same patterned in every poem he makes. In addition, Frost also pays attention

to the repetition of sound in his poem. According to the results of the analysis

above, Frost often applies the repetition of vowel or assonance and the repetition

of initial consonant sound or called alliteration.

Thus, as what has been discussed above, in making his poem, Frost has its

own style when viewed from the use of sound that he applied to his poetry. The

writer finds five style of Robert Frost in making a poem. First, Frost has a

regularity of rhymes in making his poems. Second, Frost applies the masculine

rhyme in all lines of his poems. Third, Frost has regularity on the meter. Fourth,

He pays attention to the use of repetition. Last, Frost emphasize the title of the

poems through the rhyme and the repetition of his poems. From Frost’s style that

found by the writer above, it can be seen that Frost tries to make his poetry

beautiful through rhymes, meters, and repetition. He is also a poet that enjoys the

reader and the listener with patterned end rhyme, well designed meter, and the

choice of repetition. In addition, Frost is also a poet who pays attention to the


57

sound choice. Then, Frost also re-emphasizes the title of his poetry through the

rhyme and repetition of the sound he uses in his poem. Therefore, it can be

concluded that Frost is a poet who is very attentive to the beauty of his poems and

makes his poems have a meaningful music sound.


58

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

This research is aimed to answer two problems of the study. The first

problem is to find out the phonological features found in Robert Frost’s “Fire and

Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems. The features that are analyzed are

taken from every line of his poems. The second problem is to find out the style of

Robert Frost in making his poems by seeing the phonological features that have

been found.

In the first problem, there are two phonological features that are analyzed.

There are segmental and supra-segmental sound features. Segmental sound

features include assonance, alliteration, and consonance. On the other hand,

supra-segmental sound features includes rhyme and meter. The research shows all

of that features found in the two poems.

There are two poems that the writer analyzes, which entitled “Fire and Ice”

and “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. From those two poems, the writer finds out the

type of rhyme, the end rhyme pattern, the meter, and the repetition of sound which

the poet used.

Firstly, in “Fire and Ice” poem, the writer finds that the poem has regular

pattern in terms of its phonological features. Frost applies his own pattern end

rhyme in this poem, he uses unusual pattern and it is not included in any

traditional verse but it still patterned and metrical. This poem has ABAABCBCB

end rhyme pattern. There are three rhyme sounds that found in this poem. First,


59

the rhyme sound / aɪə / is repeated in lines 1, 3, and 4 which is in form of Nucleus

only. Second, the rhyme sound / aɪs / is repeated in lines 2, 5, 7, and 9 which is in

form of Nucleus and Coda. Last, the rhyme sound / eɪt / is repeated in lines 6 and

8 which is also in the form of Nucleus and Coda. The poet mostly applies

diphthong as the nucleus and sometimes combined with the consonant sound as a

coda. Besides that, “Fire and Ice” poem has a masculine rhyme in each line.

Masculine rhyme, also known as single rhyme, is a rhyme in which the repeated

accented vowel sound is in the final syllable of the words involved. In term of

meter, this poem is written in iambic tetrameter and iambic dimeter. Then, the

repetition of sound, such as assonance, alliteration, and consonance, is also found

in this poem. The front high lax vowel / ɪ / and the diphthong / aɪ / dominate the

repetition of vowel sound. The alveolar voiceless consonant / s / is mostly

repeated in the beginning of the words, while the alveolar voiceless consonant / t /

is the only sound that repeated in the end of the words.

Secondly, the writer also finds that “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem also

has regular pattern in terms of its phonological features. The poem has couplet

verse as it has AA, BB, CC pattern. This poem has AABBCCDD end rhyme

pattern. In this poem, four rhyme sounds are found. First, the rhyme sound / əʊld /

is repeated in lines 1 and 2 which is in the form of Nucleus and Coda. Second, the

rhyme sound which is in the form of Nucleus / aʊə / is repeated in lines 3 and 4.

Third, in lines 5 and 6, the rhyme sound / i:f / is repeated. The rhyme is in form of

Nucleus and Coda. Last, the rhyme sound / eɪ / is repeated in lines 7 and 8 which

is only in the form of Nucleus. Then, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem also has a


60

masculine rhyme in each line. Similar to “Fire and Ice”, this poem was written in

iambic trimeter of lines 2 until 7 whereas the first and the last lines of the poem

have unmetrical feet pattern. After that, all of repetition of sound, which is

assonance, alliteration, and consonance, is also found in this poem. The repetition

of vowel sound is dominated by the diphthong / əʊ / and the front high tense

vowel / i: /. This poem has five repetition of initial consonant sound and each

repetition has a different consonant, which is / g /, / h /, / l /, / s /, and / d /.

Similar to the repetition of initial consonant sound above, there are three

repetitions of final consonant sound in this poem and each repetition also has a

different consonant.

In the second problem, the writer finds the poet style in making poems

through phonological features that have been analyzed. Based on the discussion,

the writer finds out some style of Robert Frost in making his poems. The writer

finds that Frost tries to make his poetry beautiful through rhymes, meter, and

repetition of sound. The writer finds that Robert Frost has a rhythmical style in

making his poems. There are five features which support the rhythmical style of

Robert Frost in making his poems through the phonological features that he used.

The five features of Robert Frost are the regularity of the rhyme, the dominance of

masculine rhyme, the regularity of meter, the use of repetition, and the emphasis

on the title of the poem.

First, the regularity of the rhyme can be seen from the end rhyme that

Frost used in his poems, esspecially “Fire and Ice” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.

Other than that, the use of traditional verse also shows that he pays attention to the


61

regularity of rhyme. Second, the use of masculine rhyme in his poems shows that

Frost has a domination of masculine rhyme in making his poems. Frost applies

masculine rhyme in all of the line of his poems, for example “Fire and Ice” and

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” poems. He would like to strengthen his poems by this

masculine rhyme. Third, the regularity of meter can be seen from the use of meter

in his poems. Frost is a poet who really adheres to the meter. He uses the metrical

pattern in making all of his poems. Forth, Frost also uses the repetition of sound in

making poems. It can be seen from the analysis about the repetition of sound

above. He uses all of the repetition of sound, such as assonance, consonance and

alliteration. Last, Frost also employs the emphasis on the title of the poem. He re-

emphasizes the title of the his poem through the rhyme and repetition of sound

that he uses in his poem. Therefore, it can be concluded that Frost is a poet who is

very attentive to the beauty of his poems and makes his poems have a meaningful

music sound which is proven from the selection of sound by Frost that he really

noticed.

As the final point, this research finds Robert Frost style in making his

poems through phonological features that found in his poems. Frost is a poet who

makes comfortable the readers and the listeners of his poem with patterned end

rhyme, well designed meter, and the choice of repetition. This research also

proves that stylistic approach can be used to analyze literary text, one of which is

poetry. Stylistics approach with some level of analysis, such as graphological,

phonological, lexical, and grammatical, can be applied to analyze literary text. In


62

addition, this writing shows that the analysis of phonological features through

stylistic can finds out the style of a poet in his literary work.

To improve stylistic analyses, the writer suggests the other researchers to

conduct similar analysis in different object. This research can be done in different

literary text such as other poems or other literary works. Moreover, the writer also

suggests other researchers to conduct a research by using different analysis,

graphological, lexical, or grammatical analysis of stylistic. By employing

graphological, lexical, or grammatical analysis of stylistic, the style can be found

not only from the sound of the poem, but also from the structure, the typography,

or the choice of words aspect. As a result, the deeper result of the style of the poet

will be achieved.


63

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1: “Fire and Ice” Poem



Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire

Some say in ice

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire

But if it had to perish twice

I think I know enough of hate

To know that for destruction

Is also great

And would suffice

By Robert Frost

(Lathem, 1969, p.220)


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Appendix 2: “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Poem



Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold

Her early leaf’s a flower

But only so an hour

Then leaf subsides to leaf

So Eden sank to grief

So dawn goes down to day

Nothing gold can stay

By Robert Frost

(Lathem, 1969, p.222)


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