Preface -- 0 Introduction -- 0.1. Goals -- 0.2. An Outline of the Study -- 0.3. Data -- 1 Poetic Language -- 1.1. The Concept of Poetic Language in Linguistics and Literary Studies -- 1.2. Poetic Deviation -- 1.3. The Relationship of Poetic Language to Standard Language -- 2 Is Poetic Language Functionally Motivated? -- 3 Compounding in English -- 3.1. The Place of Word-Formation in the Grammar of English -- 3.2. Possible Compounds -- 3.3. The Grammar of Compounding -- 3.4. The Types of Compounds in English -- 4 Principles of Poetic Language -- 4.1. The Generation of Poetic Compounds -- 4.2. Metaphor, Metonymy, Synecdoche, Ellipsis -- 4.3. Poetic Compression -- 4.4. Foregrounding -- 4.5. Optional Transitivity -- 4.6. Ambiguity -- 4.7. Vagueness -- 4.8. Rhyme -- 4.9. Iconicity -- 5 Concluding Remarks -- Appendix: Poetic Compounds in Their Context -- Bibliography.