A Study of the Textual Relationship between Prismatic Cognition and Aesthetics in the Lyrical Voices of the Well-Known English Authors

Abstract

Chromatic or prismatic cognition is a key part of human psychology and behavior affectingmany aspects of mind, including basic vision, scene perception, object recognition, aestheticsformation, and communication. In literary writings, color symbolism is specificallyaccomplished by attaching an emotional state or event or even character to a color. For example,blue is often described as peaceful, tranquil, and secure. Also, it is associated with open spaces,freedom, and intuition. Similarly, green in nature can subconsciously reassure people of hopesand productivity. The loss of proper colour cognition in one's surrounding leads to pessimistic,unfriendly, poor thoughts and actions. The blueness of rivers and oceans have long been a potentsymbol in literature and art, evoking a wide range of feelings and ideas, from the sublime to thetragic. In this light, the paper aims at presenting the critical perspectives of chromatic orprismatic cognition in the poems some of the well-known poets in the English worldforegroundig blue, green, red, yellow, black and polychromatic cognition. It includes theinterpretation of the poems like “Enigmas” by Pablo Neruda, “A Summer Day by the Sea” by H.W. Longfellow, “After the Sea-Ship” by Walt Whitman, “Once by the Pacific” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas, “And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time” and “Little Black Boy” by William Blake, William Wordsworth's “A Whirl-Blast frombehind the Hill,” and “Daffodils,” John Hopkin's “Heaven- Haven: A Nun Takes the Veil”,Robert Burns' “A Red, Red Rose,” “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams,Claude Mackay's “A Red Flower Poem,” Oscar Wilde's “Symphony in Yellow,” Edgar Allan Poe's “The Raven,” Wallace Stevens' “Disillusionment at 10 O'clock” and “I Can Sing a Rainbow” by Arthur Hamilton. The in-depth focus on the colour components and contexts inthese poems not only determines the relationship between thought and the thematic discoursebut also heighten the ecosophical dimensions and psychic disposition with which the creativeand aesthetic notions of the poets turns to become colourful.