CHARACTERIZING ENGLISH POETIC STYLE USING COMPLEX NETWORKS

Abstract

Complex networks have been proven useful in characterizing written texts. Here, we use networks to probe if there exist a similarity within, and difference across, era as reflected within the poem's structure. In literary history, boundary lines are set to distinguish the change in writing styles through time. We obtain the network parameters and motif frequencies of 845 poems published from 1522 to 1931 and relate this to the writing of the Elizabethan, 17th Century, Augustan, Romantic and Victorian eras. Analysis of the different network parameters shows a significant difference of the Augustan era (1667–1780) with the rest. The network parameters and the convex hull and centroids of the motif frequencies reflect the adjectival sequence pattern of the poems of the Augustan era.