You've probably heard the old saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Poets seem to take the opposite view. Rather than showing you a picture of something important to them, they carefully choose words to engage all of the reader's senses. This is what Frontera does in the lyrics to "Puerto Rico"—she uses combinations of words, such as "baby blue / Painted walls" and "the magic in the air" to help you see and feel why she loves Puerto Rico.
Watch this video to learn a little more about poets' use of imagery to connect readers to their ideas.
When authors attempt to create a specific image in the reader’s mind, they are using imagery. Imagery is the use of vivid language to represent objects, actions, or ideas.
Look at the poem “Give Me The Splendid Silent Sun” by Walt Whitman.
Give me the splendid silent sun, with all his beams full-dazzling;
Give me juicy autumnal fruit, ripe and red from the orchard;
Give me a field where the unmow’d grass grows;
Give me an arbor, give me the trellis’d grape;
Give me fresh corn and wheat—give me serene-moving animals, teaching content;
Give me nights perfectly quiet, as on high plateaus west of the Mississippi, and I looking up at the stars;
Notice all the sensory phrases my buddy Walt Whitty uses to grab the attention of your five senses. I bet your ears were buzzing and your sniffer was going after reading that, weren’t they? Some of these sensory phrases include:
silent sun, with all his beams full-dazzling
juicy autumnal fruit, ripe and red
field where the unmow’d grass grows
trellis’d grape
serene-moving animals
nights perfectly quiet
All of these phrases paint a picture in your head. And that, my friend, is imagery at work.
Through the use of imagery, authors create scenes that jump out, grab you, and draw you into the story. Keep an eye out for examples of imagery when reading poetry.
Question
How does the Walt Whitman poem in the video poem draw in readers? What's similar about Natalie Frontera's song "Puerto Rico"?
