Learn how to better understand poetry.

Understanding
imagery is an essential aspect of the analysis of poetry.
Understanding the use of imagery in poetry is essential for a comprehension of the overall
meaning. Images are essentially word-pictures and they usually work by a method of association.
This means that the images are created by associations that we make as readers within the
linguistic context of the text. For example, the word "red" immediately creates an image or
picture of the color red in our minds. This color is associated or has connotations with other
feelings or images, like anger, and this increases the depth of the poem. The important thing to
remember is that the images are an instrument that the poet uses to express his or her intentions
or feelings. Understanding the use of images means understanding the essential meaning of the
poem. Think of images as useful "tools" that the poet uses in order to reveal or explain the
meaning that is in the poem

Poetry
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For our example we will look at selected sections from Preludes by T.S. Eliot. The central theme
of the poem is about the feeling of despair at the decline and decadence of modern civilization.

This poem was written in 1917, when there was a worldwide critique and questioning of the
values of contemporary western civilization. Due to many factors, especially the First World
War and the economic depression, many artists, poets and philosophers felt that modern
industrial civilization had lost its sense of meaning and direction. There was a general criticism
of the status quo. Preludes falls within this ambit. In this poem, Eliot describes the modern city
as a vacuum of meaning and uses imagery to intensify this feeling.

Preludes by T.S. Eliot

The winter evening settles down

With smell of steaks in passageways.

Six o'clock.

The burnt-out ends of smoky days.

And now a gusty shower wraps

The grimy scraps

Of withered leaves about your feet

And newspapers from vacant lots;

The showers beat

On broken blinds and chimney-pots,

And at the corner of the street

A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.

And then the lighting of the lamps.

The morning comes to consciousness

Of faint stale smells of beer

From the sawdust-trampled street

With all its muddy feet that press

To early coffee-stands.

With the other masquerades

That time resumes,

One thinks of all the hands

That are raising dingy shades

In a thousand furnished rooms.

The first lines suggest a feeling of decline and despair. How does the imagery help to achieve
this effect? Notice the use of "winter" images. Winter is usually associated with a lack of growth
and a loss of vitality. The poem is suggesting that the modern city is in a state of "winter" and
has lost its direction and vitality.

The poet builds on this image to suggest a further delineation of the modern state of mental
societal decadence. The image of " smell of steaks" paints a picture of a polluted and mundane
environment. The fourth line emphasizes this feeling of loss of vitality coupled with urban
squalor. The day, and the society, is associated with an image of a burnt-out (read loss of energy)
cigarette end.

The poet carefully couples images of decadence with images that we usually associate with the
modern urban milieu, like steaks and cigarettes. He places these ordinary images into a context
that suggests a criticism of the modern world and lifestyle. The point is again emphasized with
another image of decadence and dirt in " The grimy scraps".

The image of " withered leaves" again points to the winter motif and paints a clear picture of
death and decline. Always remember that the poet is not only referring to leaves here; he is using
this image, through association, to connect to the general idea of loss of meaning in the modern
urban world.

The second stanza intensifies its attack on the modern world. The first two lines clearly express
the idea that modern life is little more than a drunken hangover. The feeling of personal and
social decadence is strengthened by the images in these lines:

"The morning comes to consciousness

Of faint stale smells of beer"

The final image of the second stanza achieves a brilliant but shocking image of the essence of

the poem.

"One thinks of all the hands

That are raising dingy shades

In a thousand furnished rooms."

This image presents us with a particularly clear impression of the intention of the poem. We can
imagine all the people repeating the same meaningless actions. They all raise " dingy shades" to
greet the day. Note the use of the adjective to describe the shades, which again points to the
sense of squalor and decadence of the modern city. More importantly, this image suggests a
sense of repetitive meaninglessness. Throughout the poem the poet uses the images to bolster
and construct his impression of the modern city. Once the function of these images is
understood, then the meaning of the poem becomes clear.

http://www.essortment.com/understand-imagery-poetry-64011.html

Imagery allows a writer to show a writer what she means instead of just
telling someone.  When you write your poem, remember:  Show!  Don't Tell!
 Look at the two examples of good imagery; they are excerpts from
 recent song lyrics.  Notice how the writers use imagery to show instead
of just telling the reader what they think.
 The imagery words are highlighted and provide links to the mental
pictures a reader might visualize.

*You should pay attention to the format of this hyperlinked poem because you
will do the same thing to your final poem for your electronic portfolio!

If you're tired and hopeless, how can you show someone this instead of just telling
them?

I took a walk around the world to

Ease my troubled mind
I left my body laying somewhere
In the sands of time
I watched the world float to the dark
Side of the moon
I feel there is nothing I can do

--"Kryptonite" by Three Doors Down

If you're a rapper, instead of telling someone to let your freestyles come naturally,
how can you show them with your words?

From the family tree of old school hip hop

Kick off your shoes and relax your socks
The rhymes will spread just like a pox
Cause the music is live like an electric shock

--Beastie Boys "Intergalactic" From Hello Nasty

http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/web/2000/baczkowski/imageex.htm

Analyzing Imagery in Poetry

Before you begin analyzing imagery you need to know what it is. Imagery is the use of vivid or
figurative language to represent objects, actions, or ideas. Once you know the definition it's time
to find examples of imagery in poetry. Here are examples of imagery in poetry from William
Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud."
Example: "A host of golden daffodils; / Beside the lake, beneath the trees, / Fluttering and
dancing in the breeze. (4-6)

Analysis: There aren't several daffodils; there aren't a lot of daffodils; there aren't many
daffodils. There's a freaking host of 'em. There are so many, in fact, that there beside the lake and
beneath the trees. Wordsworth then employs personification, describing daffodils "fluttering and
dancing in the breeze." A few lines down he recollects that the daffodils were engaged in a
"sprightly dance." I'm excited by this image. Heck, I want to throw a daffodil party right now.
You're invited.

Example: "Continuous as the stars that shine / And twinkle on the milky way, / They stretched
in never-ending line / Along the margin of a bay." (7-10).

Analysis: Wordsworth uses a simile in line 7 to connect the daffodils to the Universe; in other
words, Wordsworth is claiming that becoming one with nature is equivalent to becoming one
with the Universe or with God.

Simply identifying examples of imagery is not enough. One must interpret the image and explain
its effect on the poem as a whole, which we have done in the analysis sections. For more on how
to analyze a poem, follow the link.

Those who are able to take specific lines from literature and relate them to the entire work
develop critical thinking skills that will serve them for a life time. Those who can use imagery to
communicate their ideas more clearly advance on the path of becoming a master of words.

More Examples of Imagery in Poetry

The following examples are from "The Eagle" by Lord Alfred Tennyson:

Example: "He clasps the crag with crooked hands." (1).

Analysis: The hard consonant sounds combined with images of crags and crooked hands set up
the desolateness of nature and its cruelty.

Example: "The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; / He watches from his mountain walls." (4-5).

Analysis: Tennyson provides the image of a predatory bird scouring the sea for prey.

Example: "And like a thunderbolt he falls." (6).

Analysis: Tennyson employs a simile, comparing the eagle's descent to a thunderbolt. It hints at
the suddenness at which life can end.

The following examples of imagery come from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

Example: "Each seperate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor." (7).
Analysis: Embers are personified as dying. The reader is treated to the image of living objects
becoming ghosts, a foreshadowing of the narrator's fate.

Example: "And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon that is dreaming." (105).

Analysis: The connection between the raven and pure evil is made through the image of its
demon eyes.

Read more:
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