A COMPARATIVE STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF POETIC VOICE, NATURE, AND NATIONHOOD IN THE POETRY OF DAUD KAMAL AND TED HUGHES

Abstract

This study presents a comparative stylistic analysis of three poems by Daud Kamal (“The Rebel,” “Kingfisher,” and “An Ode to Death”) alongside three by Ted Hughes (“Hawk Roosting,” “Pike,” and “Thistles”) to investigate how diction, imagery, syntax, and sound devices construct distinctive poetic voices and reflect divergent cultural and historical contexts. Drawing on Leech and Short’s four‑level model of stylistics lexical, grammatical, graphological, and phonological and Simpson’s concept of foregrounding, the research examines how Kamal’s sparse, meditative language evokes postcolonial exile, spiritual inquiry, and collective mourning, while Hughes’s blunt, forceful diction and rhythm assert elemental power, survival, and mythic English identity. The analysis reveals that Kamal’s nature imagery internalises loss and contemplation, whereas Hughes’s natural symbols externalise conflict and dominance. Syntactic fragmentation in Kamal signifies cultural rupture; in Hughes, it mirrors cyclical violence. Soft phonology deepens Kamal’s elegy, while harsh sounds amplify Hughes’s brutality. These findings conclude that stylistic form is inseparable from socio-historical experience, showing how both poets’ language archives cultural trauma, national myth, and human engagement with nature. This research bridges a critical gap in cross-cultural stylistics, highlighting Kamal’s innovation within Pakistani English poetry and situating Hughes within a broader global discourse.