Imagery in Poetry

By Kelly Morris

Imagery

Imagery is an important tool in poetry. When you hear the term imagery, you might think of visual images. Imagery, however, can and should involve all five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Language that describes things we can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste is known as concrete language.

Good poetry is generally rich in imagery. It is descriptive. The reader can imagine actually seeing or hearing or touching the things described. Imagery shows rather than tells, which is important in good poetry.

Imagery is often used in a poem to evoke emotions in the reader. A poem which describes a dark sky and oppressive, heavy air gives us a sense of foreboding, like we have just before a storm. A poem about a braided rug on a polished floor the color of honey and a crackling fire gives us a cozy, homey kind of feeling.

Imagery involves details. If I write a poem about a rug on a floor, that does not invoke the kind of emotion that would be invoked by a poem about a braided rug on a floor the color of honey.

Figurative Language

One way to use imagery in poems is by using figurative language. Figurative language is language that says one thing while suggesting another, such as a metaphor or simile.

A simile is a comparison of two things that uses a linking word such as like or as.

For example:

Her hands lay like spiders on the blanket.
Her eyes were like dark pools in her pale face.
The sun was as bright as a new penny shining in the sky.

A metaphor is a comparison of two things that identifies one as the other.

For example:

Her hands were spiders on the blanket.
Her eyes were dark pools in her pale face.
The sun was a bright new penny shining in the sky.

Metaphors have a stronger impact than similes. It’s one thing to say that her hands looked like spiders on the blanket but another thing entirely to say that her hands were spiders.

Mixing too many metaphors in one poem can get be confusing. For example, sticking with the image of spider-like hands, I might also say that her hair was a dark cobweb against the pillow. That’s in keeping with the spider imagery. However, if I say that her face was hard and wrinkled like the shell of a walnut and her eyes were dark and flat like chunks of coal, it becomes difficult to believe all these different images. How can one woman be like a spider, a walnut, and a chunk of coal? After all, spiders, walnuts, and chunks of coal don’t have much in common.

Practice Exercise

Make a list of interesting metaphors and similes. You can try using some of these in poems later, so keep your list handy.

Make a list of interesting images. When something moves you, think about how to describe it in concrete language. Pay attention to what things look like, sound like, feel like, smell like, and taste like. You might want to carry a small notebook with you so that you can jot down interesting images when they come to you. Later, you can try using some of these in poems.