The descriptions are not only visual, they can also appeal to all the senses. Imagery makes the reader become emotionally involved with the poem and attached to its subject matter. In analyzing its imagery, you should examine the poem’s figurative language and see how it complements its tone, mood and theme.
Types of Imagery
There are seven distinct types of imagery: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, kinesthetic and organic. Many of these deal with the five senses, which all work together to help us create mental images of whatever we are reading. (blog.udemy).
1. Visual:
Visual imagery appeals to the sense of sight, and plays the largest role in imagery in literature. It describes what a scene or character looks like.
Examples: After Apple-Picking - the rumbling... of load on load of apples coming in; Mowing- The scythe whispering to the ground; The Runaway- The miniature thunder…. the clatter of stone; An Old Man's Winter Night- The roar of trees, the crack of branches, beating on a box; Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - the sweep of easy wind and downy …show more content…
Gustatory: Gustatory imagery pertains to the sense of taste.
Examples: After Apple- Picking - although not specifically mentioned, the taste of the apples is implied; To Earthward - I craved strong sweets ...now no joy but lacks salt; Blueberries - the blueberries as big as your thumb...with the flavor of soot; A Record Stride - the walking boots that taste of Atlantic and Pacific salt;The Exposed Nest- A haying machine passes over a bird nest without "tasting flesh".
5. Tactile: Tactile imagery appeals to the sense of touch for example hardness, softness, wetness, heat, cold as the feeling of a nice fuzzy blanket on a cold night, the smooth underside of a snake, the rough texture of tree bark. Anything you can touch can be described through imagery. The description of a bare hand on a mound of snow could be described as, “Sarah placed her bare hand on the cold snow. It was wet at first, then the frigid cold set in like a thousand needles, all pricking her palm at