Blending as a theoretical tool for poetic analysis

The relation between Linguistics and Poetics has often been a controversial issue in Poetic Studies. With the advent of Cognitive Linguistics and its open disposition to consider any kind of discourse as interesting enough samples of human thought — and human thought being discovered to be of a figurative nature — doors have been widely opened to poetry. Despite the firm reluctance of some Literary sectors to move beyond traditional Poetics, the works by E. Semino, P. Stockwell, Gavins & Steen and M. Freeman are clear confirmation of the modern tendency to incorporate CL findings into poetic analysis. The present paper explores this relation once again. Based on the “unity-in-variety” aesthetic principle, it analyses the way Blending Theory provides the necessary resources to consider any single piece of the poem in the integration network. The paper also offers a systematic methodology — illustrated with a brief analysis of Seamus Heaney’s “Oracle” — which intends to make a contribution to the discipline of Poetics mainly in the educational field.