Imagery functions as a poem’s five senses and is the language that transports the reader to a time, place or experience hand-picked by the author. It is of utmost importance in regards to inspiring feelings and manifesting the author’s ideas into a mental picture. Four poems, “My Papa’s Waltz,” “Bogland,” “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and “Fire and Ice” explore the power of imagery in a way that allows the reader to mentally visualize the elements of the poem. “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke introduces two characters, a father and son, who seemingly have a violent relationship.Although there are many different images within the poem, Roethke focuses on one main image – the waltz.
The narrator’s point of view in this poem is intertwined with what he remembers as an adult and with how he felt as a young boy waltzing with his father. His words circle around in a waltzing motion, bringing a dueling, yet combined perspective. The first stanza begins with a description on “the whiskey on Papa’s breath,” and how the stench “could make a small boy dizzy.”Immediately we understand that this is an adult’s memory because a small boy may not even understand the scent of alcohol.
However, he circles around and says, “But I hung on like death/such waltzing was not easy. ” In these lines, you can see the image of a scared young boy, clinging to his father, who is scared, but thrilled enough to keep on dancing with him. We also can note that the boy is much smaller than the father when he says, “At every step you missed/my right ear scraped a buckle. ” The waltz is supposed to be a formal dance, where two people sway back in forth in tune with a song.But Roethke’s use of imagery, allows the reader to understand a deeper image of the young boy’s dance with his father, which may be in tune with the song of his life, but does not sway back and forth the way it’s intended to.
Seamus Heaney’s “Bogland” relies on the use of imagery for the backbone of the poem. His rustic style of writing uses images of rural Ireland to suggest greater universal ideas. Towards the end of the poem he talks about removing layers and layers of ground which is suggestive of the coal miner’s and their problems.He says, “Every layer they strip, seems camped on before. ” It seems as though there would be something great under those layers of ground but the last line states it was instead bottomless- “The bog holes might be Atlantic seepage. The wet centre is bottomless.
” These images really emphasize a somber tone in the poem, but still a prideful one. When Heaney proclaims the land is “black butter,” he makes the land seem better than it is in actuality. This prevailing image allows the reader to understand that things that may appear dreary and dead may not actually be all that bad.In Yeats' poem, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,’ Yeats' provides a strong sense of imagery through describing his surroundings.
Yeats states, "And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee". This helps the reader interpret the surroundings that Yeats is trying to convey to the reader. Yeats also makes the tone in "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" very dreamy by using vivid imagery like "And a small cabin built there of clay and wattles made."The clay and wattles show he's unrealistic about the place he yearns to live in and that makes him a dreamer. The tone is also soft and almost warm - "for peace comes dropping slow, dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings. " This image of peace pouring from the morning and lasting till dusk, is very mellow and his repetition of dropping even sounds slow and soft.
These images and the tones make it the theme understood as the poet's wish to escape to a beautiful place with peaceful and beautiful lights, colors and sounds.Robert Frost’s poem, “Fire and Ice” revolves around two symbols for fire and ice. Fire symbolizes desire and ice symbolizes hate. The concepts of fire and ice prompt the recollection of the physical senses they embody. For example, fire elicits the feeling of heat and light, but it can also resemble burning and pain.
At first Frost almost imagines this image in his own head and says, “From what I’ve tasted of desire/ I hold with those who favor fire. ” But Ice is cold and harsh and can also be a symbol for pain. He takes side with the nature of ice and says, “To say that for destruction ice/Is also great.”These images were carefully used by Frost to create a duality than draws attention to the nature of the warning he is trying to give.
These images apply to the understanding of that the poem serves as a warning against these natural behaviors both on a universal and personal level. Imagery is an important tool in poetry. It evokes the readers five senses and further connects him/her to the poem. “My Papa’s Waltz” “Bogland” “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” and “Fire and Ice” are four examples of how imagery provides a further understanding of the poems’ truest meanings.
