A study on the verbal expressions expressing the theme of the book of ecclesiastes as found in chapter twelve

The study under report stepped out of the fact that most students of the English Department of Widya Mandala University find it difficult to learn poetry regarding to its "incomprehensible" words and peculiar dictions. Among the various poetical literary works the writer has chosen a metaphysical, religious and sacred poem from the Bible. The Book of Ecclesiastes was originally written in Hebrew but due to her limited knowledge about the language, the writer had chosen its English translated standardized version : the King James Version. This Book consists of twelve chapters but considering time limitation, the writer decided to study the closing chapter (chapter twelve) which concludes the arguments of the whole Book. This study intended to answer the following research questions ( 1) what is the central theme of chapter twelve (the conclusion) of the Book of Ecclesiastes and (2) what particular verbal expressions are used by the author to show the theme. By finding and interpreting the particular verbal expressions used by the poet, the writer finally came to the central theme of the poem as posed by the first research question. Using three theories in her effort to analyze the work ( 1) Content Analysis, ( 2) Practical Literary Critic ism and ( 3) Discourse Analysis along with the parameters stated in Chapter III, the writer finally found one major theme and two. minor themes. The major central theme in the poem is the expression of regret yet thoughtful of a man that the possibilities of life experience are so sharply limited with time. The first minor theme talks about the limitation of age while the second minor theme talks about death .. It is then finally concluded that one must live in "fear" to God the Creator, in order to face this life which is short and full of vanity. The writer also found that the poem is richly ornamented with figures of speech, especially metaphor, personification, metonymy, synechdoche, overstatement, understatement, and eight symbols. Each line of the poem is unique because they are intertwined to each other and the meanings of the verbal expressions found in each interpretation bring the writer into the central theme of the poem. The writer suggests that later researchers continue the study by working on other aspects of the poem or the whole Book of Ecclesiastes