Cognitive Analysis of Love Metaphors in Sanā'ī's Ghazals

This article studies the metaphors in Sanā''ī’s ghazals with the pivotal theme of love. The theoretical basis of the article is the theory of conceptual metaphor which has elevated metaphor from a mere rhetorical technique to a device of cogitation and cognition. At first، we present the principles of the theory considering the key words and terms coined by cognitive linguists and then give a detailed account of love metaphors in Sanā''ī’s poems. Next، based on the thematic type، we categorize the metaphors into three groups: the metaphors which express a positive view of love، the ones which designate love as having negative characteristics and features and the double-edged metaphors. Subsequently، we analyze each group cognitively. The next entry is the aesthetic and rhetorical study of the metaphors under which we elucidate the main techniques as employed by Sanā''ī، the innovator of the rhetoric of mystical ghazal.