How Does Anne Sexton Use Imagery In Poetry

An aspiring poet of the twentieth century, Theodore Roethke set the bar for his peers in poetry. Roethke led a short yet successful life, with his great poem “My Papa's Waltz” being a sample of his meaningful works. Roethke was the son of German immigrants and was born on May twenty fifth, 1908 in Saginaw Michigan(“My Papa’s Waltz”). During Theodore Roethke’s childhood, his family owned some of the biggest greenhouses in the state(Theodore Roethke).Theodore Roethke’s father, Otto, was a person who enjoyed hobbies that differed much from Theodores hobbies(My Papa’s Waltz-Themes and meanings). Otto enjoyed much more “manly” hobbies. Like any father, Otto wanted his son to share the same hobbies as himself, but early on in Theodore’s life it was obvious that Theodore would not follow his Father(My Papa’s Waltz-Themes and meanings). Otto died before Theodore got to really know his father, and

Imagery is a good source to help the readers better understand what is happening in the poem. There are several examples of different kinds of imagery. One example is “crouching over the hot coals of desire” (Wallada 5). This shows the use of kinetic imagery and visual imagery. It shows kinetic imagery because it shows the image of a character bending over hot coals. Visual imagery is used by having the reader visualize someone bending over something. Another example of imagery being portrayed in this poem is “there may be winter rains pelting copiously down” (Wallada 13-14). Tactile imagery is used

In the poem, Symons uses imagery to portray the theme. When describing the setting in the first stanza, Symons writes, “Through the tumultuous night of London”(3). When describing the setting, the reader can better picture in their head what the author was trying to show. In this case, the poet is describing the noisy streets in london at night. This relates to the theme because midnight can be seen as a “romantic hour”, which shows that lovers would be out and about at that time. Another example of imagery in the poem is when the poet continues to describe the setting in the first stanza when he writes, “In the miraculous April weather”(4). This helps the reader to understand the setting of the poem. When using this imagery, it helps set the mood of the poem, which is passionate. It helps the reader to better comprehend the poem as a whole. The poet is describing the April weather as miraculous, which means the weather is astounding and amazing, which can connect to the way he feels about the other individual in the poem. He feels strongly about the other individual and the reader can interpret he has deep feelings for her or he might even love her. Another example of imagery in the poem is when the poet is describing the way he feels in the weather in the third stanza when he writes, “After the heat and the fumes and the footlights”(11). In this line, he is describing a stage where his lover is dancing. His lover is dancing on the stage, which can show how women can be very graceful. This helps the reader to better understand not only the setting, but the person he is describing in the poem. He seems to be entranced by this woman, which can relate how she brings him happiness and fulfillment. Symons uses imagery in the

Each of the poems relies heavily on imagery to convey their respective messages. Often throughout each of the poems, the imagery is that of people. However, each uses similar imagery to very different, yet effective ways to explore the same

Imagery is a strong element that helps portray a lot of internal feelings for the audience to fathom with, thus creating an experience that the audience can enjoy. Imagery is the language represented by sense experience and a literary device that helps create a mental picture for the reader to understand what the writer is trying to say to the audience (Johnson, Arp 779). The following is the poem by Langston Hughes: “The calm,/Cool face of the river/Asked me for a kiss.” (Hughes 1-3) When examining the poem, “Suicide’s Note”, it is full of imagery with only three lines present. The

In 1908, Theodore Huebner Roethke was born in Saginaw, Michigan. There he was raised by his mother and father, who owned a greenhouse with their uncle. As a child, he spent much time in the greenhouse observing the nature, which greatly influenced his future works. Roethke attended Arthur Hill High School and later graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1929. Afterword he took a few graduate classes at Michigan and Harvard, but was unhappy and left (Kalaidjian).

First and foremost, Willa Cather and Mary Austin both employ beautiful imagery in their writings to recreate the landscape of the story they are telling, which heightens the understanding and appreciation for their writings. Their use of imagery is specific to appealing to their audience’s visual senses. In My Antonia, for example, Willa Cather describes the landscape at a particular moment by saying, “One afternoon we were having our reading lessons on the warm, grassy bank where the badger lived. It was a day of amber sunlight, but there was a shiver of coming winter in the air. I had seen ice on the little horsepond that morning, and as we went through the garden we found tall asparagus, with its red berries, lying on the ground, a mass of slimy green” (Cather 29). My Antonia has these descriptive passages throughout it, which enables the reader to feel part of the book. Likewise, Mary Austin’s The Land of Little Rain also utilizes imagery: Mary Austin says, “the mountains are steep and the rains are heavy, the pool is

Indeed, she is talking directly to her audience, which involve us in the poem. Brooks immediately states the overall subject of the poem by saying, “Abortions will not let you forget”. As the reader, we understand that the poem is referring to a woman, a mother, that had couple abortions. She describes the children that she never got as “damp small pulps with a little or with no hair”, which gives an image of how they would have been after they were born. Gwendolyn Brooks extend her description with an accumulation of motherhood’s situation such as, “you will never wind up the sucking-thumb Or scuttle off ghosts that come”. In the second stanza of the poem, the author is not addressing herself to the audience anymore. She is now using the pronoun “I”. Brooks chose to use to word “killed” in order to describe the action she did- to abort her children. This choice of word is very powerful and put a negative connotation to the word abortion. The speaker feels sorry for what she has done to her children. Indeed, in line 14, the author states: “if I have sinned, if I have seized”, which express a guilty feeling. The words “sinned” and “seized” shows how ashamed the narrator

Imagery is figurative language that describes senses to the reader so the reader can easily imagine the scenes and action in a literary work. A piece of writing could describe a specific smell, for example, to help the reader capture the moment in their mind. Imagery affects the tone of the poem because certain images could trigger the reader's emotion and attitude towards the writing. For example, in "President Lincoln's Declaration of Emancipation, January 1, 1863" by Frances E. W. Harper, it says in description "Soon the mists and turkey shadows shall be fringed with crimson light," which makes the reader feel warm and hopeful that things will get better.

The use of imagery in this poem creates a vivid image of each description that leaves the reader feeling connected to the author in unprecedented way. Even if you’re not a middle aged woman waiting for her daughter to come from from college, you still understand. This is because the author has used

Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the most celebrated poets and some of her poems have been at the center of academic discussion for many years. One of her most famous poems includes ‘The Boy Died on My Alley’, which will particularly form the center of discussion in this study. The study will focus primarily on the critical analysis that helps to define and to unify the central argument. In addition, the study will also examine some of the aspects that make this poem unique and worthwhile. Moreover, the study will critically analyze the techniques used by the author, the arguments that are central to the piece and how these techniques help to define the importance of the literature.

A descriptive word that creates a vivid image in one’s mind is imagery. Imagery is used in all different forms of literature like short stories, dramas, and poems. Words or phrases that use imagery can describe the senses such as sight, taste, or even smell. Poets use imagery in their poems as it helps readers connect to the poem. Readers can create their own personal images and pictures in their head with the assistance of imagery. Imagery also has readers look at and analyze poems through their own individual experiences with the imagery used. Imagery can also set the mood for a poem. If words like “sunny” or “soft” are used in a poem they’d set a happy mood, but if words like “rainy” or “foggy” are used they’d set a sad mood. “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot uses plenty of imagery to give readers insight as to what exactly the speaker sees and feels. The speaker in the poem takes what seems to be the woman he loves on a walk through, what he describes, “streets that follow like a tedious argument/ of insidious intent” (Eliot 759). The imagery that the speaker uses to describe the street is strange because instead of taking the woman he loves through a romantic and nice street, he describes the street as an argument, which is something that can be annoying,

“Roethke was a great poet, the successor to Frost and Stevens in modern American poetry, and it is the measure of his greatness that his work repays detailed examination” (Parini 1). Theodore Roethke was a romantic who wrote in a variety of styles throughout his long successful career. However, it was not the form of his verse that was important, but the message being delivered and the overall theme of the work. Roethke was a deep thinker and often pondered about and reflected on his life. This introspection was the topic of much of his poetry. His analysis of his self and his emotional experiences are often expressed in his verse. According to Ralph J. Mills Jr., “this self interest was the primary matter of

The power of the poet is not only to convey an everyday scene into a literary portrait of words, but also to interweave this scene into an underlying theme. The only tool the poet has to wield is the word. Through a careful placement and selection of words, the poet can hopefully make his point clear, but not blatantly obvious. Common themes of poems are life, death, or the conflicting forces thereto. This theme could never possibly be overused because of the endless and limitless ways of portraying life or death through the use of different words.

The use of visual imagery in each poem immensely contributed to conveying the theme. In the poem