The Five-Speech Acts in the Sepehri's Seday-e Pay-e Aab

The language philosophy theory of “speech acts” is one of the text analysis theories on the basis of which we can analyze rhetorical and literary concepts in smaller linguistic units (utterances). This article analyzes Sepehri’s "Seday-e Pay-e Aab" according to this theory. This poem has been analyzed according to the revised model of J. R. Searle’s five “speech acts," and the author’s three affective methods. After defining the expressions and the principles of the speech act theory and specifying the concept of the three effective methods in line with this theory, under each of the five acts (assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, declarative), some examples of the lines of the poem have been analyzed. Sepehri has used assertive and expressive acts in all the parts, directive act in most of the parts, but no commisive or declarative acts in any parts of the poem. To intensify the effects of his words, the poet has used strategies like repetition, intensification, and linking of the acts in his poetry. Using the directive, assertive and expressive speech acts, on the one hand, Sepehri describes and criticizes the past and present of the world; on the other hand, by delivering his poetic view and his ideal world, he coaxes his readers into living a specific lifestyle. To achieve this, he uses three affective methods creatively. Due to the specific features and applications of commisive and declarative acts, Sepehri has not been able to use them in this poem.