Between happiness and melancholy: the symbolic interplay of blue with red and gray in contemporary English poetry

Торговець, Юлія Іванівна (2026) Between happiness and melancholy: the symbolic interplay of blue with red and gray in contemporary English poetry Закарпатські філологічні студії, 2 (45). pp. 296-300. ISSN 2663-4880, 2663-4899

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Abstract

This study examines the role of color symbolism in contemporary English poetry. The analysis focuses on how blue interacts with other colors, red and gray, and how these relationships express complementary and contrasting psychological and emotional states. By tracing these interactions, the study shows that color functions not only as a descriptive detail but also a structural device through which poets convey intense emotions and inner conflicts. The findings reveal that blue and red consistently emerge as archetypal opposites, embodying two divergent modes of experience. Blue signifies indifference, tranquility, and the unattainable, while red represents love, passion, and sometimes pain. Their opposition enhances the poet’s message and highlights the irreconcilable gap between two radically different emotional planes. The interplay between blue and gray broadens the emotional spectrum of the poems. Gray symbolizes dullness and sadness, and its relationship with blue can either reinforce melancholy or stand in contrast to it. When gray and blue converge, they create a unified register of sadness, where external oppression mirrors inner despair. When set against each other, gray embodies sorrow while blue represents eternity and happiness, revealing the cyclical nature of existence: after darkness, light inevitably breaks through, and even in profound melancholy there is always a glimmer of hope for brighter days. Thus, in the poems under analysis, blue is the structural constant, while red and gray are variables that expand and diversify its expressive range. Red intensifies blue’s impassiveness by contrasting it with passion, while gray embodies sadness and its interaction with blue either deepens that melancholy or highlights blue’s alternative meaning as a symbol of peace and happiness

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	symbolism; color psychology; blue; red; gray
Subjects:	Статті у періодичних виданнях > Фахові (входять до переліку фахових, затверджений МОН)
Divisions:	Факультет романо-германської філології > Кафедра германської філології
Depositing User:	Юлія Іванівна Торговець
Date Deposited:	14 May 2026 12:24
Last Modified:	14 May 2026 12:24
URI:	https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/57410

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