التشبيه المركب ووظيفته التصويرية في الشعر العربي الحديث

Abstract

This study examines the compound simile and its imagistic function in modern Arabic poetry as an artistic technique that goes beyond the traditional, partial comparison typical of classical simile. It proceeds from the assumption that the compound simile operates by likening one whole configuration to another, or one scene to another, thereby shifting poetic discourse from plain statement to vivid visualization and suggestion, and becoming an organic component of the poem’s aesthetic and semantic structure. The study outlines the concept of simile, its pillars and purposes, then distinguishes its major types (sensory vs. intellectual; simple vs. compound), highlighting the specificity of the compound simile in that the point of resemblance is inferred from the network of relations within the image rather than stated explicitly. Methodologically, the research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach and applies the theoretical framework to selected examples from Mahmoud Darwish and Badr Shakir al-Sayyab. The analysis shows that compound simile contributes to scene-building in a manner akin to cinematic sequencing, intensifies meaning, and generates psychological and aesthetic effects that expand interpretive horizons, making imagery a mechanism for producing meaning and shaping poetic vision. Findings also indicate a shift from ornamentation to structural formation, linking personal experience with collective and existential contexts, and the study recommends broader corpora, semiotic and phenomenological integration, and pedagogical inclusion.