IMAGERY “THE DEFINITION OF LOVE” BY ANDREW MARVELL GROUP FIFTH ADRIANUS ADRIAN, BILLY HUANG, JOSSE ANDRIAN, SATRYA B.S.F. JOSSE 2A1 IMAGERY Imagery is one of the most important elements of poetry that poets use to evoke vivid experience in their readers. Through imagery poets not only convey emotions, desires, wishes, and thoughts, but also create mental reproduction of sense impressions in their readers’ minds. Perrine (1984) defines imagery as “representation of some experience through language”. Despite "image" being a synonym for "picture", images need not be only visual; any of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell) can respond to what a poet writes. Types of Imagery: Visual Imagery, a visual image occurs when a poet represent something through sight Woman with Flower By Naomi Long Madgett I wouldn't coax the plant if I were you. Such watchful nurturing may do it harm. Let the soil rest from so much digging And wait until it's dry before you water it. The leaf's inclined to find its own direction; Give it a chance to seek the sunlight for itself. Much growth is stunted by too careful prodding, Too eager tenderness. The things we love we have to learn to leave alone. Auditory Imagery, an auditory image occurs when something is represented through sound If Trees Could Do As We By Frederick Douglas Harper If trees could talk as we, Oh, how they would echo Earth’s praises; If trees could sing as we, Gee, how they and we would Harmonize a sweet song of Spring breezes; If trees could walk as you and I With dances of lift and light; If trees could, then we could Imagine of them, their life, their soul, In our minds and hearts; And spare of them their life for us. Olfactory Imagery, an olfactory image occurs when a poet represents a smell Messy Room By Shel Silverstein Whosever room this is should be ashamed! His underwear is hanging on the lamp. His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair, And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp. His workbook is wedged in the window, His sweater's been thrown on the floor. His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV, And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door. His books are all jammed in the closet, His vest has been left in the hall. A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed, And his smelly old sock has been stuck to the wall. Whosever room this is should be ashamed! Donald or Robert or Willie or-Huh? You say it's mine? Oh, dear, I knew it looked familiar! Gustatory Imagery, a gustatory image is the representation of a taste Taste of Summer by Swati Goswami Crushed leaves and grass tasty tangy smells of summer Trees are full and plush Fruits are succulent and ripe The Gulmohar bright and proud sways in the brisk warm breeze. Lazy silent afternoons are intoxicating; Balmy winds refresh the evening walkers Thirsty birds skip from branch to branch looking for water troughs. fearless rowdy boys are at play the sun doesn’t dampen their playful spirits. As the dusk falls in the timid ones venture out. I know the rains are round the corner the brisk winds will soon be moist I take a deep breath and try to drink the summer. Tactile Imagery, a tactile image is the representation of touch My Papa's Waltz by Theodore Roethke The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt. Organic Imagery, an organic image is the representation of an internal sensation Examples: hunger, thirst, pain, longing, regret, etc. “Hope” is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chilliest land And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. Kinesthetic Imagery, a kinesthetic image is a representation of physical movement MONGOOSE by Frederick Douglas Harper Their steps are quick and low, Fastly scooting they often go, Minding their own business of the day; A friend of man and woman they are, Kindly and cute animals by far; Mongooses, how beautifully they stroll Along; Mongooses, how beautifully they stroll Alone; Their brown coat glistening in the sun, Creatures of charm on the run. THE DEFINITION OF LOVE BY ANDREW MARVELL (1621-1678) Andrew Marvell (31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English Methapysical Poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Common at various times between 1659 and 1678. Andrew Marvell wrote the poem "The Definition of Love". It is categorized as a metaphysical poem (It is a type of poetry written during the seventeenth century. Etymologically, “metaphysical” is a combination of two words ‘meta’ and ‘physical.’ The meanings are clear that it deals with the things that are beyond this the existence of the physical world) due to its attempt to apply logic to the abstract notion of love. The poem is composed of eight quatrains. The rhyme scheme follows an ABAB patterns except in two stanzas. In the first stanza, the reader would need to mispronounce "impossibility" as "impssibilitigh" to fit the scheme. Otherwise, stanza one falls under ABAC. The sixth stanza has an off rhyme with the A-pattern lines. The poem presents a regular rhythm overall when read aloud. My love is of a birth as rare As ’tis for object strange and high; The first lines of the poem are uncommon in poetry about love. The speaker (henceforth referred to with male pronouns) describes his love as being rare. He also claims it is for something (or someone) strange. It was begotten by Despair Upon Impossibility. The third and fourth lines of the poem state the speaker’s love was created by Despair and Impossibility. These two entities are personified, evidenced by the use of capital letters. They are further personified by the notion they are able to create (or birth) the love of a person. Once again, these descriptions are fairly odd. The metaphysical aspects of the poem are immediately shown in the first quatrain of the poem. Magnanimous Despair alone Could show me so divine a thing Magnanimous indicates a person who is very forgiving. In addition to the personification of Despair, the poem continues using unusual descriptors. It is quite odd to think of Despair, the complete loss of hope, as being forgiving. However, the speaker attributes the love he feels to the aforementioned Despair. In addition, the reader witnesses the first romantic depiction of love with the word "divine." Where feeble Hope could ne’er have flown, But vainly flapp’d its tinsel wing. Though Hope is often thought of as strong, here it is portrayed as weak. The speaker claims it could never have achieved what Despair did. And yet I quickly might arrive Where my extended soul is fixed, But Fate does iron wedges drive, And always crowds itself betwixt. A fixed soul likely refers to the speaker’s body. This casts light on the earlier stanzas in which his love is shown, through dark descriptions and the portrayal of Despair, to be saddening. In this stanza, he goes on to say Fate (another personification) comes between him and, presumably, his love. For Fate with jealous eye does see Two perfect loves, nor lets them close; The idea the reader develops while reading the previous stanzas is confirmed at the start of the fourth stanza. Fate does not allow two loves to be close to each other. In this case, it is the speaker and his beloved. Their union would her ruin be, And her tyrannic power depose. Fate is show to be tyrannical. Fate, previously described as jealous, does not want to be ruined or lose power. And therefore her decrees of steel Us as the distant poles have placed, The "decrees of steel" are the laws Fate has put into place. The commands of Fate hold strong, keeping the speaker and his love apart. (Though love’s whole world on us doth wheel) Not by themselves to be embraced; These lines suggest the union of the lovers would be accepted, maybe celebrated, by the people. Unfortunately, Fate does not allow it and so they cannot be together. Unless the giddy heaven fall, And earth some new convulsion tear; In these two lines, the speaker lists natural calamities that are highly unlikely, if not impossible, to occur. And, us to join, the world should all Be cramped into a planisphere. In the same stanza, the speaker mentions him uniting with his love. This could only be possible if the aforementioned occurred. As a result, they would be crowded into a planisphere, a map or projection of a sphere, with all people. This continues on the vein of atypical descriptions and metaphysical ideas applied to love. As lines, so loves oblique may well Themselves in every angle greet; Oblique lines bend and slant, meaning they will come in contact. This does not apply to the lovers in question throughout this poem. But ours so truly parallel, Though infinite, can never meet. The speaker describes their love as truly parallel. This implies something ideal though it is not. Being truly parallel, this means the two will never meet or touch. They are, indeed, fated to be apart. Therefore the love which us doth bind, But Fate so enviously debars, The speaker and his beloved are bound by love. They are devoted to each other in feeling but never physically. Fate persists in keeping them apart. Once again, Fate is described as jealous by the use of the word "enviously." Is the conjunction of the mind, And opposition of the stars. The final lines explain how the two lovers can be bound to one another even though they cannot physically be together. They are connected by their minds, the love they feel and think of. This is the ending in the metaphysical, by attempting to create a logical explanation for something abstract. The theme of the poem is love, specifically how emotions may not always agree with physicality. Though two people may be very much in love and devoted to one another, there is a possibility they can never be together. This creates a painful struggle for those who experience it. In "The Definition of Love," the reciprocated but impossible love of the speaker is detailed. Throughout the poem, the reader learns how the two lovers are kept apart. The reader is also taken through an argument of sorts to exemplify how two people can be kept apart physically but nothing will change their hearts. Essentially, the speaker attempts to have the reader understand why and how he is connected to his love in such a way that cannot be easily refuted. -THANK YOU- Q and A Section! QUIZ: IT IS A SECRET SO YOU MUST LISTEN OUR EXPLANATION FIRST, IF YOU WANT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
