Introduction to Imagery in Poetry

Imagery in poetry is the author’s use of vivid language that appeals to the reader’s senses. All five senses can be activated through the use of imagery. This includes the following types of imagery: visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), tactile (touch), olfactory (smell), and gustatory (taste). We will also examine the role of metaphor, personification, and simile in poetry.

The Role of Imagery in Poetry: Evoking Emotions

Imagery immerses the reader in the world of the poem. It uses various senses to evoke certain emotions. For example, Robert Frost uses visual imagery to create a somber mood in his “Nothing Gold Can Stay” poem:

“Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.”

Frost, Robert. “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148652/nothing-gold-can-stay-5c095cc5ab679. Accessed 30 Jan. 2024

The visual imagery of the changing colors of a forsythia bush remind the reader that life is short. As the seasons change and leaves fall not long after they bud, nothing “gold” or perfect in life lasts. As a result, this imagery gives the poem a somber and reflective mood.

Types of Imagery: Visual, Auditory, Tactile, and Beyond

As shown above, Frost’s poem provides a great example of visual imagery. However, there are still four other types of imagery: auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory.

An example of auditory imagery can be found in Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” poem: 

“And, as in uffish thought he stood,

      The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

      And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

      The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

      He went galumphing back.”

Carroll, Lewis. “Jabberwocky.” Poetry Foundation, 1 Jan. 1983, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42916/jabberwocky. Accessed 30 Jan. 2024.

Even though Carroll makes up his own words in this poem, readers still can imagine the sounds that the Jabberwocky makes as he approaches his foe. For example, words like “whiffling” and “burbled” or “snicker-snacker” and “galumphing” add auditory imagery to characterize the Jabberwocky.

Crafting Imagery: Simile and Metaphor In Poetry

Poets use both metaphors (direct comparisons) and similes (comparisons using like or as) in poetry to create imagery. 

Simile In Poetry

For example, Langston Hughes uses simile in poetry to create tactile, olfactory, and gustatory imagery in his “Harlem” poem: 

“What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

      like a raisin in the sun?

      Or fester like a sore—

      And then run?

      Does it stink like rotten meat?

      Or crust and sugar over—

      like a syrupy sweet?

      Maybe it just sags

      like a heavy load.

      Or does it explode?”

Hughes, Langston. “Harlem.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46548/harlem. Accessed 31 Jan. 2024.

Hughes uses similes to create different types of imagery for the reader. For instance, we can imagine the feel of a heavy load on our shoulder. Or we could remember the taste of a syrupy sweet. Although it may not be very pleasant, we might also recall the putrid smell of rotten meat.

Metaphor In Poetry

On the other hand, sometimes poets choose direct comparisons by using metaphor in poetry. For example, in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, Romeo asks, “What light from yonder window breaks?” He then answers his own question with a metaphor: “It is the East, and Juliet is the sun”.

Shakespeare uses imagery to emphasize how in love Romeo is with Juliet. Juliet’s beauty is so radiant that she doesn’t just resemble the sun; rather, she takes its place in the sky through the use of metaphor. 

Personification in Poetry

As another example, let’s look at personification. Personification in poetry is giving human characteristics to nonhuman things. Imagery and personification go hand in hand in creating a multi-faceted experience for the reader.

For example, imagine a poet wanted to write a suspenseful poem. As a result, they might describe tree branches as “dragging spidery branches like claws across windows.” Then, the reader can visualize and hear what is happening through the pairing of personification with imagery.

What is Symbolism in Poetry?

Symbolism in poetry occurs when the poet replaces an idea or theme with a representative symbol. For example, in Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird”, she uses a bird to represent those who feel trapped in their circumstances: 

“The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.”

Angelou, Maya. “Caged Bird.” Poetry Foundation, 1 Jan. 1994, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48989/caged-bird. Accessed 5 Feb. 2024.

Analyzing Imagery in Famous Poems: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Now that we have a basic understanding of the function of imagery in poetry, let’s look at how T.S. Eliot uses imagery throughout his famous poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”.

In this poem, the speaker attempts to find the courage and opportunity to pursue a woman he loves, but he convinces himself not to until he runs out of chances.

Analyzing the First Stanza: Similes & Personification

To begin with, the first stanza uses similes and personification to provide imagery of this pursuit to the reader: 

“Let us go then, you and I,

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherized upon a table;

Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,

The muttering retreats

Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels

And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:

Eliot, T. S. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Poetry Magazine, 1 Jan. 1963, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock. Accessed 5 Feb. 2024.

The second and third line use personification and simile in conjunction with one another. For example, the sky is described “like a patient etherized on a table.” This infuses human characteristics and creates a dreary image for the reader. Personification is also used to describe “the muttering retreats of restless nights.” Through auditory imagery, the poet is giving human characteristics to the sleepless nights that the speaker endures while waiting to declare his love to this woman.

Stanzas Two & Three: Personification & Sound Devices

The second stanza uses some sound devices in addition to personification, including alliteration and repetition. The “yellow fog” is personified as an animal making itself comfortable around a house through the repetition of similar phrases such as “yellow fog” and “yellow smoke”. Alliteration is also used, such as the words “licked”, “lingered”, and “let”.

Imagery in the Final Stanzas

As the poem continues, the speaker begins to unravel his own insecurities surrounding a desired relationship with a woman. Eliot uses imagery to represent the passing time where the speaker decides against declaring his love for this woman.

He also uses imagery to show the many opportunities the speaker had to make his move and yet did not. By the end of the poem, the speaker realizes the foolishness in his perpetual fear and waiting. Consequently, he has now grown old and filled with regret: 

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown

Till human voices wake us, and we drown.”

Eliot, T. S. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Poetry Magazine, 1 Jan. 1963, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock. Accessed 5 Feb. 2024.

The speaker is so obsessed with how others think of him that he cannot find self-confidence and pursue the life he wants. In fact, he has even convinced himself that mermaids do not like him! He comes to terms with his life decisions of having “lingered in the chambers of the sea” (visual imagery). Then, reality finally hits, and he drowns: “Till human voices wake us”. 

Need More Practice with “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”?

If you want more practice with analyzing imagery in “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, then be sure to check out our Poetry course! We offer questions with detailed explanations to help you grow in your poetry analysis skills.

Imagery Across Poetic Genres

As shown above, imagery can appear in a multitude of various poetic and even literary genres. Whether it is a narrative poem, a limerick, or a fantasy novel, writers use imagery to bring their words alive and create a multi-sensory experience for the reader.

For example, in Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” poem, symbolic imagery is used to contrast feelings of freedom and entrapment. In the play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses imagery through metaphor to express the depth of love (or obsession!) that Romeo has for Juliet upon seeing her at her window.

Lewis Carroll uses imagery in “Jabberwocky” to bring meaning to nonsensical words. Langston Hughes incorporates imagery in “Harlem” through the use of similes to capture the raw emotion of a dream being put on hold. Finally, in “Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock”, Eliot uses imagery to carry the reader through a visceral, stream-of-consciousness experience.

All of these example of imagery come from different genres and types of poetry. Yet, as you can see, whatever the poetic genre, imagery is a powerful tool that can be used in diverse ways.

The Interaction of Imagery with Other Poetic Elements

Imagery interacts with other poetic elements, as seen in “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” analysis above. In Eliot’s poem, personification and simile were most often used in tandem with different forms of imagery. However, sound devices and rhythmic devices can all work beautifully alongside imagery within a poem.

For example, Amy Lowell’s poem, “In a Garden” uses alliteration and assonance in conjunction with imagery to depict a gorgeous fountain in highly romanticized language.

“Gushing from the mouths of stone men

To spread at ease under the sky

In granite-lipped basins,

Where iris dabble their feet

And rustle to a passing wind,

The water fills the garden with its rushing,

In the midst of the quiet of close-clipped lawns.

Damp smell the ferns in tunnels of stone,   

Where trickle and plash the fountains,   

Marble fountains, yellowed with much water.” 

Lowell, Amy. “In a Garden.” Poetry Foundation, 1 Jan. 2002, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42983/in-a-garden-56d221a5bfad9. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.

Assonance is used through the repetition of the “i” sound in the word “its”. Alliteration is also used in the phrase, “close-clipped lawns”. These sound devices enhance the imagery of this scene. For example, visual imagery like “granite-lipped basins” and auditory imagery such as “rustle to a passing wind” paired with these sound devices better convey Lowell’s message.

Conclusion: The Power of Imagery in Poetic Expression

In conclusion, imagery is a powerful tool. Without imagery, poetry would read more like a textbook than a work of art. With imagery, however, poets invite readers into a living, breathing world that they can touch, taste, hear, smell, and see and not forget, even long after reading.