Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton © 2012

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 1. Linguistic images A poem conveys its meaning through words chosen and arranged in images. the denotation (dictionary definition) Three elements characterise each word: the connotation (the associations and feelings evoked in the reader’s mind) the sound

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 2. Comparisons Poets use comparisons to make their descriptions more vivid or precise. When you analyse a poem, you should ask yourself: - What things are being compared? - How are they similar? - How is the comparison achieved? - What does the comparison convey? - How does the comparison relate to the whole poem?

Poetry and poetic imagery A simile is a comparison between two things, which is made explicit through the use of the following words: Performer - Culture & Literature 3. Simile A simile is usually more striking if it compares two essentially unlike things. ‘than’ or ‘like’ ‘as’ ‘resembles’

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 3. Simile Example: And though so much distinguished, he was wise And in his bearing modest as a maid (G. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales) The functions of a simile are: - to convey a more vivid idea of the scene or object; - to make the meaning easier to understand; - to introduce an element of surprise; - to create an emotional response in the reader.

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 4. Metaphor While a simile establishes a comparison between two separate things, a metaphor describes something as if it were something else. It is a means of comparison between two things that are basically dissimilar without connective words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’.

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 4. Metaphor The elements of a metaphor are: the tenor (the subject of the metaphor) the vehicle (what the subject is compared to) The analogy between them, the ideas they share, are called: common ground

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 4. Metaphor Example: Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player (W. Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5) This scheme can also be applied to the simile. Simile and metaphor have more or less the same functions even if the latter has a stronger emotional impact. tenor Life vehicle walking shadow common ground impalpability

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 5. Personification Personification is another form of imagery which attributes the characteristics of a living being to abstract things or to inanimate objects. Personification can be recognised by the use of the capital letter (Zephyrus), of possessive adjective (his) and verbs referring to human actions (exhales). In the following lines Chaucer speaks about the spring wind: When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath Exhales an air in every grove and heath (G. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales)

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 6. Symbol A symbol is any thing, person, place or action that has a literal meaning and also stands for something else, such as a quality, an attitude, a belief or a value.

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 6. Symbol Most symbols are shared by the members of the same cultural community and are therefore easy to understand. Examples: There are symbols, however, which are the individual creation of a poet. In order to understand them, it will be necessary to study and analyse not only the context of the poem, but also the writer’s work and background. symbol of love and beauty; symbol of death; symbols of youth and old age. a rose a skull spring and winter

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 7. Allegory Allegory combines a number of different symbols into a totality, often a story. For example, in The Canterbury Tales: the pilgrimage to Canterbury = allegory of the journey towards the celestial city

Poetry and poetic imagery Examples: Performer - Culture & Literature 8. Oxymoron Oxymoron is the combination of two usually contradictory things which is sometimes used to express extreme feelings. Dear enemy Sweet sorrow

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 9. Hyperbole Hyperbole means exaggeration of a quantity, a quality or a concept. It is often used in everyday language: I told you a thousand times.

Poetry and poetic imagery Performer - Culture & Literature 10. Litotes Litotes is the contrary of hyperbole, a rhetorical understatement in which the negative of the opposite meaning is used. Example: = You will find him not ill-disposed He will be favourably disposed.