Imagery in poetry

Poetic imagery is defined as the use of evocative, metaphorical language to simulate a sensory experience in the reader. Imagery is often used in tandem with or alongside symbolism, which imbues physical elements such as objects, animals, or landscapes with specifically selected qualities that create strong and direct thematic ties to a poem’s subject matter or contents.

Literary critics and commentators note that poets often use imagery to communicate key ideas and themes that are otherwise difficult to express, especially in literal language. Imagery can also create thematic and contextual connections within a poem, among a poet’s various works, or between the works of one poet and other literary figures. Poets frequently use repetitive motifs in their imagery, creating directly related metaphorical sets or families known as image systems.

Historical models of literary theory acknowledge five specific types of images, each of which corresponds directly to one of the five senses. Expanded paradigms include other types of images that seek to capture and express the qualities of human feelings and the emotional impacts of common experiences.

Background

Despite an eternal presence in poetry and other forms of literature, authors, critics, and philosophers have long debated the nature and origins of literary imagery and the precise qualities that define it. While the subject is notorious for its lack of consensus, poetic imagery is broadly and generally understood to use the senses and other forms of human experience as a figurative vehicle for communicating complex ideas, observations, and literary themes.

In his widely cited 1913 essay “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste,” the acclaimed American poet and literary critic Ezra Pound (1885–1972) famously described imagery as an “intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time.” Pound’s definition references multiple defining qualities of poetic imagery: it seeks to capture and express intricate observations about human experience or the human condition through a specific depiction of an external figure, object, or element as it exists at a particularly poignant and thematically impactful moment. Pound was a founding figure of imagism, a poetic movement of the early twentieth century that placed imagery at the forefront of poetry and favored the use of precise, economical, and focused language in evoking and imbuing images with literary meaning. Pound’s famous 1913 two-line poem “In a Station of the Metro” represents a quintessential example of the imagist movement:

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

Petals on a wet, black bough.

Other commentators cite the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962) as executing one of the most comprehensive intellectual treatments of poetic imagery in the corpus of modern literary criticism. Bachelard characterized imagery as originating within the deepest reaches of human consciousness, existing in a mental space that transcends intellectual understanding and instead connects with readers on an intuitive, experiential level. Though Bachelard’s perspective represents only one of many such viewpoints on the nature and qualities of poetic imagery, observers note that his ideas about it succeed in capturing the elusive nature of imagery and the profound impacts it is capable of producing in readers.

Overview

Traditional theoretical paradigms identify five distinctive types of poetic imagery: visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, and tactile. Visual imagery, often described as the most common and familiar type, expresses imagery in terms directly related to the sense of sight. It generally functions by evoking a scene or object witnessed by the poet or by the poem’s narrator, then attaching figurative qualities to it using metaphors.

Auditory imagery can function on multiple levels. In the most basic sense, it evokes a reader’s sense of hearing by describing sounds, or the absence of sound, and attaching metaphorical qualities to those sounds (or lack thereof) in a manner similar to that associated with visual imagery. More complex forms of auditory imagery achieve similar effects through the formal qualities of language, using devices such as onomatopoeia to replicate a specific auditory experience through the use of evocative words.

Gustatory imagery appeals to a reader’s sense of taste, seeking to express themes or ideas by describing specific taste sensations enriched with deeper meanings. Literary theorists note that gustatory imagery relies strongly on the concept of sense memory, which describes the phenomenon of recalling past events via sensory triggers embedded deeply in memory and operating on a level that often transcends the expressive capabilities of language. Olfactory imagery, which seeks to create connections between a figurative poetic device and a reader’s sense of smell, functions similarly.

Tactile imagery uses the sense of touch as its metaphorical vehicle, creating images that use textures or physical sensations to express figurative ideas. Like other forms of imagery, the success of tactile imagery often depends on the reader’s personal familiarity with similar tactile experiences. Tactile images are typically rooted in sensations related to temperature, pleasure or pain, and pressurized forces such as pushing, pulling, squeezing, or vibrating.

Broader, more complex analytical systems also acknowledge additional forms of imagery, of which kinesthetic and organic imagery are the most widely discussed. Kinesthetic imagery relates to motion and uses motion as a tool for evoking and describing the physical sensations created by movement while attaching metaphorical or thematic qualities to those sensations. Organic imagery, which is notorious for its abstract nature, uses common emotional experiences such as happiness, love, fear, and longing or physical impressions such as hunger, arousal, or weariness as the basis for a metaphorical relationship.

Regardless of the specific form it takes, imagery universally functions to create tangible mental pictures that connect poems to readers’ firsthand experiences. Given that poetry relies heavily on the economical and purposeful application of language to explore complex concepts in relatively compact forms, imagery counts among the most important tools poets use to express and develop their ideas.

Bibliography

“Image in Poetry.” Purdue University, owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject‗specific‗writing/writing‗in‗literature/image‗in‗poetry/index.html. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Imagery.” Academy of American Poets, poets.org/glossary/imagery. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Imagery.” Center for Literacy in Primary Education, 2023, clpe.org.uk/poetry/poetic-devices/imagery. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Imagery.” The Poetry Archive, poetryarchive.org/glossary/imagery/. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Imagery.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/imagery. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

Llorens, Dídac. “The Analysis of Poetic Imagery.” Jaume I University, 2003, repositori.uji.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10234/79167/forum‗2003‗3.pdf. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

“Poetry 101: What Is Imagery? Learn about the 7 Types of Imagery in Poetry with Examples.” MasterClass, 1 Sept. 2022, www.masterclass.com/articles/poetry-101-what-is-imagery-learn-about-the-7-types-of-imagery-in-poetry-with-examples. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.

Pound, Ezra. “A Few Don’ts by an Imagiste.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/articles/58900/a-few-donts-by-an-imagiste. Accessed 14 Nov. 2023.