---

In the present paper we aim, in an analytic and comparative manner, at an investigation of the conceptual metaphor "LOVE IS WAR" as a way of understanding of falling and being in love and speaking of them in Hafez's Divan and Petrarch's Canzoniere within the framework of Lakoff's Conceptual Metaphor Theory. What comes out through this examination reveals that although the two collections turn out to be similar in many ways in terms of metaphorical theme, there are two major differences between them in terms of imagery: to begin with, Hafez employs more warfare terms and expressions than Petrarch does, and secondly, Love in Petrarch's poetry on many occasions reveals itself in the image of Cupid, God of Love in ancient Roman mythology, who with his bow and arrow aims at the lover's heart and captures him. In Hafez poetry, however, there is no such explicit imagery which personalizes the abstract and invisible force of love emotion in the form of a god, but in it we encounter a beloved, or the eyes and eyebrows of which, that, in a figurative manner, shoot arrows at the lover's heart and ensnare him.

---

Figure turning is the change in the appearance of nature or the ability of Mythological heroes and legendary creatures that sometimes is demonstrated with apparent changes such as: turning inanimate objects to animals, human to animal or vice versa, human to angel and etc. It is sometimes without apparent change. For example, the Hero achieves a numinous power or maybe goes beyond his intrinsic abilities. However, it is important that these changes or figure turnings be considered as the most important factor to wonder in myths, legends and folk stories. The purpose of this study is to examine the written native legends in Sistan and Baluchistan province from the figure turning point of view. According to the diversity of types of tangible figure turning and the Breadth of the subject, the present article is assigned to the types of human transmutation in which human has been transformed in to animal, inanimate, plant, numinous creatures, nature, and human, or gains extraordinary abilities without a change in his nature. The results shows, there is human transmutation in 23 out of 157 myths in the province. The most human figure turnings are "transformation of human to animal" and "amazing trips", "transformation of human to human" and "human to numinous creatures" from the first kind of human transmutation which are not seen in any kind of these myths. The researchers try to demonstrate the obvious reasons of different figure turnings by interpreting mentioned legends and also, to show the role and function of these figure turnings in native legends.

---

In the present paper, we aim to apply the Conceptual Blending Theory proposed by Fauconnier and Turner (2002) to the analysis of one poem by Garous Abdolmalekian. Our hypothesis rests upon the fact that the same cognitive operations which occur in everyday construction and understanding of language as put forth by Blending theorists, occur also at the construction and interpretation of a literary work by authors and readers alike, operations like setting of input mental spaces, cross-space matching, blending clashing material and creating emergent structure. The poem examined in the paper, "lahzeye sheni" ("the sandy moment") is quite a long poem divided into five stanzas. The method used in the examination is a descriptive- analytic one. To use conceptual means of Blending, each stanza is a blend behind which stands an integration network composed of two input spaces which have projected selective structure onto the blend leading to emergent structure in it. For example, in one stanza, what is presented is an image in which black pieces of paper thrown out of the window turn into crows and fetch on the tree branches. This is a blend created out of two inputs of crows and black pieces of paper which are integrated together through the compression of the vital relation of Change. In general, it can be assumed that the poet, while creating the work, has passed through theses mental stages before he comes up with the present form of the poem; that is, he has formed two mental input spaces, and then merged them together only to bring about a novel concept, some emerge structure, which is the poem itself. The assumption can be extended so as to include the reader on the other side of this act of communication: the reader also, on their encounter with the poem, in order to make sense of it, has to unpack the blend which is presented to him in the poem. The reader, through the mechanisms of disintegration and decompression, try to reconstruct the mental phases the author has gone through while creating the work, and thus to gain an interpretation of it. In conclusion, what this paper reveals is the fact that literary works depend upon the same basic mental operations, here the operation of blending, which are at work in like non-literary works. Moreover, a good reader is who is able to follow the author, in a reverse manner, in his act of creation, and to achieve an active participation in his act of reading. The Blending Theory, by analyzing the cognitive processes a work of art passes through, helps readers reach higher levels of the participation of the sort mentioned. 
 

---

Abstract: this paper aims at an examination of Alireza Rowshan's poems based on the Conceptual Blending Theory put forth by Fauconnier and Turner (2002), investigating their semantics structure by drawing on the conceptual means the theory provides, and thus classifying his poems into a couple of stylistic categories. This is conducted through a qualitative research method, in a descriptive and analytic manner, so that, first, four select typical poems are explored throughout using the conceptual means provided by the Blending Theory, such as integration networks, blends, vital relations and so on, and, then, the resultant outcomes get extrapolated statistically into the rest of the poems contained within two of his most famous collections. In the process, according to the application of the foregoing conceptual means, Rowshan's poems turn out to be clearly and systematically classified into four major groups in terms of their semantic structure, while the details of each of these semantic structures are formulated through the conceptual means of the foresaid theory. What comes about through this analysis reveals that, by applying the newly emerging linguistic theories to the analysis of literary works, it is possible to enhance the conducted analyses in precision and order, thus advancing literary criticism one step further.


1. Introduction
 This paper aims at an examination of Alireza Rowshan's poems within the framework of the Conceptual Blending Theory put forth by Fauconnier and Turner (2002). It tries to investigate the semantics structure of these poems by drawing on the conceptual means the Blending theory provides, and thus to reach a classification of his poems into a couple of stylistic categories. Conceptual Blending Theory was originally proposed as a means to describe and explain meaning construction in ordinary language. Nevertheless, since the process of sense making constitutes one of the main characteristics of human beings in every domain, literature among many others, the mental operations Blending Theory proposes apply to all human activity, including literary texts. The same can be said in the case of Blank Verse poetry, as the main task in creating (and understanding) such poetry revolves around the analysis of complex semantic structures lying behind its form, usually composed of two or more clashing input mental spaces, giving creativity to it. The current research wishes to answer one main question: is it possible to make use of new linguistic theories (here Cognitive Linguistics) for an increase in the precision, clarity and systematicity of analyzing literary works, and if so, how? Our Hypothesis is that this is practical. In order to answer this question, we have selected two collections of the contemporary Persian Blank-Verse poet Alireza Rowshan, trying to scrutinize the semantic structure of them with the help of the conceptual means contained with the Blending Theory, and thus arriving at overall generalizations as to their semantic features and the way they are created by the author. Finally, we try to classify these poems stylistically on the basis of the Blending Theory means.

2. Materials and Methods
 following a qualitative methodology and in an analytic-descriptive manner, first, four select typical poems are throughly explored using the conceptual means provided by the Blending Theory, such as integration networks, blends, vital relations and so on, and, then, the resultant outcomes get extrapolated statistically into the rest of the poems contained within two of his most famous collections, namely, The Book of Ain't and Riveted by. We have built upon these two collections, as they contain the poet's short, minimalist poems.

3. Results and Discussion
An application of the five-fold dimensions of the Blending Theory, including Constituting Principles, typology of Integration Networks, Classification of Blends, Vital Relations and Optimality Principles or Governing Principles, in the case of Alireza Rowshan's poems demonstrates that this theory, because of its rich conceptual tools for describing the process of meaning construction, is most capable of explaining the creation of the mentioned pieces, as well as assessing them in a rigorous, quantificational manner, implying thus a good ability for the systematic criticism and examination of literary works in general. As a result, Rowshan's poems turn out to be clearly and systematically classified into four major groups in terms of their semantic structure, while the details of each of these semantic structures are formulated through the conceptual means of the Blending theory.
As it turns out, stylistic features of the semantic structure of Alireza Rowhan's poems in terms of the conceptual tools of the Blending Theory may be identified across four axes: 1) typology of the blends used in the semantic structure, which are mostly simple; 2) integration networks, which are mostly simple in his poems; 3) vital relations, which are mostly role and value, then, analogy and part-whole, all of which finally are compressed to uniqueness. 4) emergent structure, which are typically not very creative, but have s strong emotional impact. As for vital relations, it is to be noted that, through this analysis, a new vital relation has come to be identify which has not been referred to in the literature, and that is intertextuality. This is one of the new findings of this article.

4. Conclusion
What comes about through this analysis reveals that, by applying the newly emerging linguistic theories to the analysis of literary works, it is possible to enhance the conducted analyses in precision and order, thus advancing literary criticism one step further. Thus, the question we raised at the beginning of our work (the possibility for new linguistic theories to be used in literature) is answered affirmatively.
 

---