Imagery | Classification of Imagery
Imagery | Classification of Imagery
In a general sense, the term ‘Imagery’ refers to a mental picture of anything made of words, phrases or sentences. Let us illustrate imagery with the following examples:
- Sita is a beautiful girl.
- Sita is as beautiful as a piece of red rose.
Both the above-cited sentences bring mental images or pictures of a beautiful girl named Sita. But the mental pictures that the two sentences bring to our minds are different from each other. Example no.1 shows or exhibits Sita as she is. On the other hand, example no. 2 brings the image of Sita with a brief but sensuous illustration of Sita’s beauty. In other words, to explain, the beautifulness of Sita is illustrated by invoking the image of a red rose.
Hence imageries, based on their natures of representation may be of two types (1) Ordinary Imagery and (2) Illustrative imagery.
Ordinary Imagery shows or represents a thing as it is. It is only a piece of general information about a thing. In this sense, every word or sentence with a meaning is an image or imagery. In brief, to say, Ordinary Imagery is the thing itself. The aforesaid example no. 1 is an instance of Ordinary Imagery.
On the other hand, Illustrative Imagery is a device through which an object, thought, feeling, idea or any sensory or extra-sensory experience is represented, illustrated, clarified, enriched, persuaded or intensified by invoking the qualities or characteristics of any other things to appeal to our senses and emotion which bring a lively picture to our mind. A phrase, an epithet, a metaphor, a simile, etc. may create an image. Illustrative Imagery may be called Poetic Imagery. An Illustrative Imagery has all the attributes (qualities), and objectives of poetry, such as-
- It is a device of illustration, representation, clarification, intensification, persuasion or enrichment of a thing.
- It appeals to our sense organs.
- It arouses our feeling with emotion, and
- It creates a lively picture.
In the assessment of the literary merit of any literary art, only illustrative or poetic imagery, not ordinary imagery, is taken under consideration.
The Illustrative or Poetic Imagery is often visual; but it can also appeal to other senses also such as- (i) the sense of Auditory (Hearing), (ii) Gustatory (taste), (iii) Olfactory (smell), (iv) Tactile (touch), (v) Thermal (by which we differentiate between heat and cold) and (vi) Kinesthetic (which is produced by muscular tension or physical movement). Let us illustrate these sense impressions produced by poetic imagery as below:
Visual Imagery
Visual Imagery refers to that imagery that creates a picture or mental image as if the thing appears in front of our eyes. For example, we can quote the following lines from William Shakespeare’ (1564-1616):
”Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.” (Macbeth, Act v, Scene v, Lines no.24-28)
In the above-quoted lines, the poet William Shakespeare makes a series of visual imageries to illustrate that life on the earth is nothing except delusion. In these lines we have three imageries as: first, the imagery of a walking shadow; second the imagery of a poor player; third the imagery of a tale told by an idiot.
Another example of visual imagery may be taken from John Donne (1573-1631), a seventeenth-century English poet:
”Our two Soules, therefore which are one,
…………………………………………..
If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two.” (A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning)
Through the above-quoted imagery of a compass, the poet John Donne has illustrated his hearty attachment to his beloved.
We can cite an example of Visual imagery from Henry Vaughan (1622-1695) 17th century English Metaphysical poet:
”I saw Eternity the other night
Like a great ring of pure and endless light.” (The World)
(The other night I saw the Image of God which looked like a great ring made of pure gold and endless light.)
Here the Eternity (God) is visualized by means of the imagery of a golden ring of light.
We can take another example of visual imagery from a minor English poetess named Emily Bronte (1818-48):
”If raindrops were kisses
I’d send you showers.
If hugs were seas,
I’d send you oceans.
And if love was a person,
I’d send you me.”
Through the quoted lines the poetess expresses her deep desire to unite with her loved one and to illustrate and intensified her depth of love she invokes the imageries of raindrops, sea, and ocean.
We can cite the flowing imagery for the colour ‘Gray’ from Shoshana Goldberg as:
Gray is sorrow, like rain and tears,
Like death or failure, or a job done poorly.
Through the quoted lines the poetess Shoshana has made a series of imageries to visualize the ‘gray’ color.
Another example may be given from Hiren Bhattacharya (1932-2012), an eminent Assamese poet of the late twentieth century:
”The pen of mine is the hammer of the hand of a blacksmith
I break into pieces and build up words beating with it,
It is as sharp as the edge of the furrow of a peasant
The output of which is the golden Sita,
It is as rough as the saw of a carpenter
Splitting the fibre of hardwood I bring out the bloody words of experience.
My words are like the arrow of the bow in the hand of a Chaotal youth Penetrating direct into the aim
They become lively with blood, flesh, and will
Some of which are as high as the mountains
Some of which are as humble as the rivers
And some of which are as deep as the lakes
They neither stand up nor sit down after anybody’s behest
I am the poet of the great continent coloured with river, stream, and mountain
The world is my poetry.” (The World is My Poem)
Through this piece of poetry, the poet Hiren Bhattacharya has given an account of how his words and poetry are made up of or what his pen is. There are a series of visual imageries as the imagery of the hammer in the hand of a blacksmith, the imagery of the sharp furrow of a peasant, the imagery of the saw of a carpenter, the imagery of the arrow of the bow of a Chaotal youth, the imagery of mountain, river and lake etc.
We can take another example of visual imagery from an Assamese traditional Bihu song:
Being a fish I’d swim in your pond,
Being a pigeon I’d perch on your housetop,
Being sweat I’d glitter in your body,
And being a fly I’d kiss on your cheek.”
Through these above-quoted lines, the poet has drawn a series of images as the imagery of a fish in the pond, the imagery of a pigeon on the house top, the imagery of sweat on the body, and the imagery of a fly to illustrate his deep desire to unite with his beloved.
Auditory (Hearing) Imagery
The Auditory (Hearing) Imagery appeals to our ears. For example, we can quote the following lines from S. T. Coleridge (1772-1834):
”The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew
The furrow followed free
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.” (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)
Here the auditory imagery is invoked by the alliterative use of words like- foam flew, furrow followed free, silent sea. The sound of the words falls an impression in our ears.
Another example of auditory imagery may be quoted from the same poet (S. T. Coleridge) as:
‘The ice was here, the ice was there
The ice was all around.
It cracked and growled and roared and howled
Like noises in a sound.” (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)
Here the auditory imagery is made up by the use of repetition of similar sounds (onomatopoeia) as: ice, growled, roared, growled.
Another example of auditory imagery is:
”A strong man struggles bravely with the storms of fate.” (Proverb)
Here the auditory imagery is made up of the repetition (alliterative use) of the letter ‘s’ in the words: strong man, struggle, storm.
Gustatory (Taste) Imagery
The Gustatory (Taste) Imagery appeals to our gusto. An exquisite instance of Gustatory Image may be cited from Andrew Marvell (1621-1678), an English metaphysical poet, as:
”He hangs in shade the Orange bright
Like golden lamps in a green Night
And does in the pomegranates close
……………………………………..
He makes the Figs our mouths to meet
And throws the Melon at our feet
But Apples plants of such a price
No tree could ever bear them twice.” (Bermudas)
(Paraphrase: The Bermuda Island hung up the bright oranges from its tree which looked like a golden lamp on a green night. It kept fruits of figs and pomegranates close to our mouths and threw the melon to our feet. And it provided us with such apples that no tree could bear them twice.)
These quoted lines serve as an example of gustatory imagery as the reading of the lines brings a sweet taste to the mouth.
Olfactory (Smell) Imageries
The Olfactory (Smell) Imageries appeal to our smelling organs. An example of this imagery is taken from John Keats (1795-1821), as:
Into her dream, he (Porphyro) melted as the rose
Blendth its odour with the violet
Solution sweet.” (The Eve of St. Agnes)
(Paraphrase: In the dream, Porphyro got melted as the odor of a rose gets melted with the odor of a violet and makes a sweet solution.)
Tactile (Touch) Imagery
The Tactile (Touch) Imagery gives the impression of touching things. A fine example of such an image is found in Ben Johnson’s (1573-1837) writing, as:
Have you left the wool of beaver
Or swan’s down ever?
(Paraphrase: Have you ever touched the wool of a beaver or the feather of a swan?)
Thermal Image
The Thermal Image appeals to our sense of feeling of heat and cold. A famous example of this kind may be cited from John Keats, as:
St. Agnes. Eve- Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl for his all feathers, was a cold
The hare limped trembling through the frozen grass
And silent was the flock of wooly fold
Numb were the beadsman’s fingers…… ” (The Eve of St. Agnes)
(Paraphrase: It was so bitter cold that even the feathery owl also felt cold. The hare in the jungle was limping over the frozen grass with a trembling body. The flock of the sheep ceased to move and the fingers of the bead-reading man became numb of cold.)
Kinesthetic Imagery
The Kinesthetic Imagery is produced by muscular tensions or movements. A good example is found in Alexander Pope (1668-1744), as:
”When Ajux strives some rock’s vast
Weight to throw
The line to labours, and the words move slow.”
(Paraphrase: When Ajux strived to lift and throw the vast piece of rock, all the labourers become dumb and cease to move on.) (Essay on Criticism)
On the basis of the tone (the author’s attitude towards his subject matter) imageries may also be classified as: the imagery of love and affection, the imagery of amorous desire, the imagery of tragic event (disaster, serious accident), the imagery of heroism, the imagery of humour (fun), the imagery of wonder, the imagery of fear and horror, the imagery of pathos, the imagery of mourning, the imagery of calmness, the imagery of greediness, the imagery of beauty, joy, pleasure and grandeur etc.
Poetic imagery may be called the soul of poetry because imagery gives shape flesh and life to a poem. For example, we can analyze the first quotation, given as an instance of visual imagery, from William Shakespeare. Through the quoted lines the poet illustrates that life is nothing but a delusion. If we wipe off the imageries then there will remain nothing. The importance of imagery in poetry is so significant and decisive that poetry is nothing but imagery invoked for the exhibition of the poet’s abstract feelings. To say the truth, imagery is poetry.
Imagery is used both in prose and poetry. But the imagery used in prose is ordinary imagery which is made of words, phrases, and sentences with literal meaning. Ordinary imagery tells us about a thing directly as it is. In some prose works, there may have some poetic imagery also. But poetic imagery used in any prose work is only a decoration. If the poetic imagery is cut off from the piece of any prose writing then no thematic harm would be done to it. But in poetry, the imagery is itself the poetry. In other words, to say, imagery is the soul of poetry mixed chemically in the shapes of atoms. 0 0 0.
Classification of Imager
Classification of Imagery
Classification of Imagery
N. B. The article ‘Classification of Imagery’ originally belongs to the book entitled ‘The Laws of Literature‘ by Menonim Menonimus.
Classification of Imagery
Books on Literary Criticism by M. Menonimus:
- World Short Story Criticism
- World Poetry Criticism
- World Drama Criticism
- World Novel Criticism
- World Essay Criticism
- Indian English Poetry Criticism
- Indian English Poets and Poetry Chief Features
- Emily Dickinson’s Poetry-A Thematic Study
- Walt Whitman’s Poetry-A Thematic Study
- Critical Essays on English Poetry
- Tawfiq al-Hakim’s Novel: Return of the Spirit-An Analytical Study
- Tawfiq al-Hakim’s Novel: ‘Yawmiyyat Naib Fil Arayaf’-An Analytical Study
- Analytical Studies of Some Arabic Short Stories
- A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Pre-Islamic Period (500 AD-622 AD)
- A Brief History of Arabic Literature: Early Islamic Period (622 AD-661 AD) …
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