Pictures speak louder than words, so show your audience what you want them to see and feel through images (word pictures). Although many poets use specific images as parts of their poems, some poets use a single image for their poems. The Japanese haiku poets and, later, the Imagist poets wrote poems that create one image that evokes one emotion. Such poets capture the essence of what they want to communicate and communicate that essence directly. For example, consider the following haikus by Matsuo Basho:
Winter rain--
the field stubble
has blackened.
Summer grasses--
all that's left
of warriors' dreams.1
Both poems, similar to many haikus, focus on a particular season. The seasons indicate progression of time and mood. The image occurs in the first part of the poem, and the conclusion or insight occurs in the second part of the poem. Each poem is a statement or embodiment of one image that draws one significant conclusion or suggests one primary emotion. Haikus rely solely upon imagery to communicate emotions.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Imagist movement, founded by Ezra Pound and led by H. D. (Hilda Doolittle), was influenced by Japanese haiku poets. The Imagists used imagery as the singular force in their poems, but they did not adhere to the haiku form. They composed in free verse, advocating musical phrases as a rhythmic basis rather than adhering to a strict form such as the syllabic structure of haikus.
Poets such as Carl Sandburg and William Carlos Williams created poems that use words in a way similar to how the Impressionist painters used color--to create images that communicate not only what something looks like, but how to perceive and feel it. The following poem, "Fog" by Carl Sandburg, is an excellent example of how to use an image as the singular force of a poem.
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.2
The poem is about fog. It centers on a single image: the fog coming in like a cat. Rather than saying it was foggy yesterday, and the fog reminded me of a cat, the way it curled around my block, the poet communicates the essence of the experience with one simple image that evokes an emotion.
"This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams also centers on one image.
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold3
Do you experience the poem--see the plums, taste the plums, feel the plums--when you read it? Now, try to experience what the poem states beyond the sweet, cold plums. What is the speaker's attitude? Is he/she truly remorseful, asking for forgiveness, or is he/she playful? The poem suggests a relationship between two people. Can you conclude anything about their relationship?
Although most poets employ imagery, the majority of poets do not use a single image to communicate an idea; rather, they combine images in their poems. Some images are esoteric and are more difficult to understand or experience. Because a poet brings to a blank page all that he/she is, knows and imagines, some images are not understandable to all readers at a glance. Regardless, you must use your senses to capture details. When you express what you see, hear, smell, taste and feel, you will be able to communicate those abstract ideas and emotions that are often difficult to articulate.
Poets often employ figurative language to create mental images. Precise diction communicates an idea or an image to a reader at the surface; figurative language communicates an idea or an image below the surface of the poem. Some figurative language is easily understandable; some figures of speech are ambiguous, perhaps because the poet relies on a common experience and knowledge between writer and reader. Readers can appreciate a poem even though they may not understand the references, but an immediate association certainly enhances the reading of it.
An allusion is a short reference to an historical or literary figure, event, or work of art. The common association provides a code to understanding, an understanding that relies on the reader's experience and knowledge to facilitate deeper meaning. When someone asks you to describe something with which he/she is unfamiliar, instinctively you try to equate that object with something that the person is familiar with--using an analogy, simile or metaphor. A special kind of metaphor is synecdoche. It occurs when a writer uses a part of something to signify the whole or, more rarely, the whole to signify a part. Metonomy is the substitution of one word for another on the basis of some material, causal or conceptual relation. An apostrophe is where the speaker directly addresses someone or something not present in the poem. With respect to personification, a poet attributes one or more human qualities to an inanimate object or idea. A symbol exists in and of itself in a poem, while, at the same time, suggesting something greater and thereby transcending itself. In other words, in addition to its function as a concrete object in the poem, a symbol also represents something abstract. (For more descriptions and for examples of the aforementioned techniques, please refer to "Common Poetic Techniques and Terms.")
When creating imagery you will need to open yourself to experience. Use your words to capture life and action, writing what you see, hear, smell, taste and feel. Remember that poetry moves from the inside. First, allow your vision to emerge; then, decide on a form that best expresses that vision.
_______________________________________________________
1"A Selection of Matsuo Basho
's Haiku," The Haiga Pages, 26 September 2010 http://thegreenleaf.co.uk/hp/haigapages.htm.2Carl Sandburg
, The Complete Poems of Carl Sandburg (New York: Harcourt, 1970) 33.3Charles Tomlinson
, ed., William Carlos Williams: Selected Poems (New York: New Directions, 1985) 74.
