A Comparative Study of the Use of Semantics in Persian and Arabic Poetry Based on the Theme of Sermon in the Poetry of Nima Yooshij and Nazik al-Malaika

In Persian and Arabic poetry, both classical and modern, the use of rhetoric to communicate the concepts and meanings applied by the poet is very tangible, because what makes a text literary and poetic is its rhetorical aspects. Nima Yooshij and Nazik al-Malaika, as the founders of free-verse poetry in Persian and Arabic literature, used the elements of rhetoric to highlight the themes of their poems and make them more influential. These two poets occasionally gave sermons and advice in their poetry. This article investigates the use of semantics in creating the theme of sermon and advice in the poetry of these two poets. Among the most important elements of rhetoric employed to give sermons, one may point to semantic elements. Drawing comparisons between these two poets, the article demonstrates that both poets highlight the predicate to express their purpose through sermon and advice. Regarding the audience, what is most desirable for them is the expression of the predicative statement that the reader must recognize, not the choice of the type of audience or address. There are, of course, differences in the application of rhetorical elements between these two poets. For instance, Yooshij expands his poems through repeating the concepts of sentences and by using allegories and metaphors, but Malaika does so by the repetition of the imperative sentences.