Allison Krug
Prof. Irving
Composition and Literature
10 April 2017
The use of imagery in "Poem", "Windsurfing", and "Home Baked Bread"
Poetry is an important form of literature that almost every person will read in their lifetime. Poetry often uses imagery to create vivid mental images. Most common images provide reference to sight, smell, sound, taste, touch and feelings/emotions. The poems picked for the analysis, "Poem", "Windsurfing", and "Home Baked Bread”, provide examples of powerful imagery addressing different senses.
“Poem” by William Carlos Williams is focused on visual images of movement. Even its four stanzas represent the cat’s steps. The movement of the cat is perceived by the reader as delicate and gingerly. At the same …show more content…
Its five stanzas represent different “events” in the story unfolding in front of the reader, and the use of imagery helps make the distinction. The first stanza is describing rough waters. “Wrinkled hide of water” (624) and the boat “peels the crest” (625) are examples of the images describing the texture. The second stanza focuses on the struggle of the man. The words “taut” (625), “bucks, stalls, shudders, yaws, and dips” (625) express the balancing act of the man trying to run a sailboat. These same words suggest a lot of emotion, too. The third stanza is built around a metaphor. The sailboat is compared to a dolphin, “springing toward its prey” (625). We can sense speed as “springing” (625) effortless movement (“tossing spray” as opposed to first stanza’s “peeling the crest”) and freedom (“salt glare of distance”). The fourth stanza signals the transition to quiet waters. Although there is still some struggle (“the wind snapping and lashing” (625)), the sailboat enters the “haven of the breakwater” (625). This metaphor, although trite, expresses the change in the environment. The last stanza filled with visual images like “gliding elegantly” (265), “a film of water” (as opposed to first stanza’s “wrinkled hide of water”), “obedient legend” suggesting peace and
Prof. Irving
Composition and Literature
10 April 2017
The use of imagery in "Poem", "Windsurfing", and "Home Baked Bread"
Poetry is an important form of literature that almost every person will read in their lifetime. Poetry often uses imagery to create vivid mental images. Most common images provide reference to sight, smell, sound, taste, touch and feelings/emotions. The poems picked for the analysis, "Poem", "Windsurfing", and "Home Baked Bread”, provide examples of powerful imagery addressing different senses.
“Poem” by William Carlos Williams is focused on visual images of movement. Even its four stanzas represent the cat’s steps. The movement of the cat is perceived by the reader as delicate and gingerly. At the same …show more content…
Its five stanzas represent different “events” in the story unfolding in front of the reader, and the use of imagery helps make the distinction. The first stanza is describing rough waters. “Wrinkled hide of water” (624) and the boat “peels the crest” (625) are examples of the images describing the texture. The second stanza focuses on the struggle of the man. The words “taut” (625), “bucks, stalls, shudders, yaws, and dips” (625) express the balancing act of the man trying to run a sailboat. These same words suggest a lot of emotion, too. The third stanza is built around a metaphor. The sailboat is compared to a dolphin, “springing toward its prey” (625). We can sense speed as “springing” (625) effortless movement (“tossing spray” as opposed to first stanza’s “peeling the crest”) and freedom (“salt glare of distance”). The fourth stanza signals the transition to quiet waters. Although there is still some struggle (“the wind snapping and lashing” (625)), the sailboat enters the “haven of the breakwater” (625). This metaphor, although trite, expresses the change in the environment. The last stanza filled with visual images like “gliding elegantly” (265), “a film of water” (as opposed to first stanza’s “wrinkled hide of water”), “obedient legend” suggesting peace and