In the Age of Reason, writers influenced by Ancient Greece and Rome took the stage of history. This was exactly the period that the subject of the monosyllabus came to the fore in the Enlightenment period because many authors began adopting a more formulative understanding in literature. The rules of understanding were not be just limited to just “three units, certainty or decorum.” This formulative understanding of literature also focused on syllables and the number of syllables became a question for neoclassical authors. Although using them is inevitable, the authors opposed monosyllables for various reasons: Firstly, in this period, authors give importance to reason, thought, nature itself while disregarding spirituality and the supernatural. There is an understanding that sees the image, not the beyond of or the inside of image. This can be a areason for them to criticize the usage of monosyllabus in literature. They were not interested in soul of the words, being stuck to the syllable number of words. Moreover, these authors write with their reason, not with divine inspiration. In other words, there is a “sane” process of writing. In this sense, in Ars Poetica Horatius requires a poet to have a craft (Horatius, 33); this also says a lot for neoclassical writers influenced by classical poets. At this point, words are the products artists generate by thinking carefully and especially working on them; they will treat poetry as a craft. In this regard, the fewer syllables can be a sign of a "plain" thought process rather than an intense thought process for these neoclassical authors. Therefore, using a simple language, consisting of monosyllablus words might have been seen as a pale “work” of a mind that could not think complicated.
Leaving aside the different causes of discomfort with monosyllabic words, we can examine the very prominent American poet Anne Bradstreet's poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband” in the axis of the monosyllable debate. Arthur Schopenhauer pointed out in On Reading, Writing and Living that a simple language required more skills when he wrote “…dressing so many thoughts in a few words is a never-deceiving sign of the eminent minds.” (Schopenhauer 113). This distinction may also be made in the number of syllables for neoclassical writers. For example, the neoclassical perspective may think that when you choose more than one syllable, your text will be more complicated and more complicated language requires more wisdom. Yet, when we look at the poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” this work is of great significance for the monosyllable debate, as it is an example of how much can be told with monosyllables and how the monosyllables really do matter. We can exemplify this with memes that are becoming more and more common in the 21st century. When "me" is written under a photo, that message is delivered directly if the meme is succesfully prepared. We understand that “me" refers us who makes this action in the photo and we get the joke. In other words, the message reaches the person without the need to read a more detailed explanation rather than just the word “me”. At this point, it goes through filling the shortness with density; just like we will see in this poem. Actually, monosyllabic words carry a soul like every word and they are not just a one syllable; if we are not stuck in the image. They have the potential to hold many meanings and depths depending the talent of both writer and reader. In this poem, Bradstreet transcends the limits of puritanical understanding and she is able to do so with monosyllabic words, which in fact has been underestimated by many neoclassical writers.
Firstly, in Bradstreet’s “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” monosyllabus and polysyllabus words are used together to generalize the notion of duality. When the persona says about her husband “That when we live no more, we may live ever.” (Bradstreet), we see that she does not regard death as an end. Having Puritan understanding of life, the poet draws attention to contrast of a worldly life and a life in the hereafter. If we focus on the monosyllabic word “ever” as “at all”, these monosyllabic words in this verse such as “ever” can also be interpreted as a reference to the shortness of the earthly life. Thus, in this contrast, the author chooses for the hereafter. The another duality relationship can be seen in these verses: “If ever man were loved by wife, then thee. / If ever wife was happy in a man.” (Bradstreet). This is crucial that she uses the word “wife” instead of using the word “woman”. This is also interesting that Bradstreet uses the word “man” in this verse instead of this word in the poem, although she uses the husband in the title of the poem. Because the word “man” is also monosyllabic, she reduces the inequality between the two genders in society with her word choice, at least in the poetry. We can say that she does this by actually deviating from or exceeding the basic ideas of Puritanism regarding women. Also, by saying that she is happy, she also emphasizes that she is actually a person worthy of being happiness. In a Puritan society, poverty or having poor conditions were associated with not being the chosen by God. Thus, the contrast of being chosen and not chosen emerges in these verses through the mix of monosyllabus and pollysyllabus words that contrast each other in terms of lenght. Briefly, in this poem monosyllabus words are used in conjunction with pollysyllabus words to deepen the contrast.
Secondly, interpretations of Schopenhauer actually tell us a lot about the monosyllabuses in Bradstreet. He focuses on “naked truth” in writing and explains its beauty, saying “…because this captures the listener's mind directly, without being distracted by secondary thoughts.” (113) and “…the whole effect comes from the thing itself.” (113). Simirlarly, in “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” monosyllabic words are used by the author to convey inner feelings and truths directly without a probable outside interruption. This is very remarkable that persona says “My love is such that rivers cannot quench…” (Bradstreet). Here, monosyllabic words enable us to grasp the inner meaning, inner world and different truths of words. Bradstreet does not want to distract the reader with pollysyllable words Bradstreet does not want to distract the reader with pollysyllable words when they grasp these deep truths and emotions. In other words, the poet transfers the emotion directly into the reader's glass like water. In this rapid transfmission, it is also remarkable that the word “river” is used in the verse because this word reflects that fluidity, this makes us feel and live the love. An another example can be “Thy love is such I can no way repay / The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.” (Bradstreet). In these verses, she tries to convey the virtue of being humble with monosyllables to the reader "quickly". In a way, the reader reads these short words and almost drinks them. Also, the fact that she chooses so many monosyllable words can be read as a sign that the persona will be humble in her love as she is humble in words. In other words, in these monosyllabic lines written for the husband, it is as if the persona is saying that as if my poetry is satisfied with a single syllable, I will be content with only your love. Briefly, monosyllabus words tell us much more quickly if we can transcend the depth of words.
Lastly, it is important to examine how the first American poet Anne Bradstreet differs from the British neoclassical understanding of literature. Anne Bradstreet lived in a puritanical society, while the church at that time lost its influence on neoclassical writers in English literature. While the theme of God and spirituality is of great importance in Bradstreet's poetry; in neoclassical poetry, reason and thought come to the fore. While neoclassical writers exclude emotions and seek refuge in the leadership of reason; we see that the persona in Bradstreet's poem appears filled with heart and emotions rather than reason. As we see in “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” Bradstreet gives very deep meanings to monosyllabic words. In conclusion, when we read this poem, we understand the value of monosyllabic words, short and succinct writing. This poem still resists today with deep monosyllabus words like a deep-rooted tree resisting harsh storms of criticisms.
References
Bradstreet, Anne. “To My Dear And Loving Husband.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43706/to-my-dear-and-loving-husband. Accessed 15 April 2021.
Horatius. Ars Poetica Şiir Sanatı. Translated by C.Cengiz Çevik. Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2019.
Schopenhauer, Arthur. Okumak, Yazmak ve Yaşamak Üzerine. Translated by Ahmet Aydoğan. Say Yayınları, 2008.