TEXT WORLDS IN I MAY I MIGHT I MUST BY MARIANNE MOORE
TEXT WORLDS IN I MAY I MIGHT I MUST BY MARIANNE MOORE

Summary/Abstract: This paper is a pragmatic analysis of the poem I MAY I MIGHT I MUST by Marianne Moore from the perspective of the text world theory, the purpose being to prove the link between linguistics and literature. Any competent interpreter should distinguish form among the various poetic voices in point of reference and role and should also decode the meaning of modality markers in the context, these representing the key elements in the poem. The syntactic structures used in the poem, the manner of versification and the semantics of the modal verbs illustrate how creativity reconfigurates new use patterns. Only the understanding of all the relevant linguistic elements as they are combined in the text can lead to the appropriate interpretation of the poem as text world(s).

• Details
• Contents