Our findings reveal that the novelty of love metaphors in poetry does not lie in concepts but in linguistic expressions thanks to the four above techniques, among which combination is employed much more than the others in both languages. Furthermore, both conceptual and linguistic metaphors of love are found to be similar between English and Vietnamese poetry, which is supposed to result from the universality of metaphor. | POETIC METAPHORS OF LOVE IN ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE Phan Van Hoa*,1, Ho Trinh Quynh Thu2 University of Foreign Language Studies, the University of Da Nang, Luong Nhu Hoc, Khue Trung, Cam Le, Danang, Vietnam. 2 The Department of Education and Training of Quang Nam, Tran Phu, Tam Ky, Quang Nam, Vietnam 1 Received 14 September 2017 Revised 12 November 2017; Accepted 27 November 2017 Abstract: The conceptual metaphor theory states that poetic metaphors are in fact conventional metaphors but they are made novel via four techniques - elaboration, extending, questioning, and combination. Based on this sense, our paper focuses on examining and comparing poetic metaphors of romantic love in English to those in Vietnamese. Contrastive analysis is the main method applied in the study with the data for investigation coming from English and Vietnamese love poems. Also, the metaphor identification procedures by Pragglejaz Group and its extension are employed to minimize the risk of impulsiveness in metaphor collection process. Our findings reveal that the novelty of love metaphors in poetry does not lie in concepts but in linguistic expressions thanks to the four above techniques, among which combination is employed much more than the others in both languages. Furthermore, both conceptual and linguistic metaphors of love are found to be similar between English and Vietnamese poetry, which is supposed to result from the universality of metaphor. However, variations of cultures, lifestyles, and thought bring about some differences of love metaphors between these two languages. Keywords: conceptual metaphor, poetic metaphor, metaphor of love, English, Vietnamese 1. Introduction Love is a complex emotion but familiar and closely attached to human life. It is the endless source of inspiration to composers, especially poets. Love in poetry is diverse, plentiful, and mainly manifested by metaphors. Poetic language used to be regarded as unconventional, more imaginative and creative .
