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Hyperbole
Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Act 1
Explanation and Analysis—A Commoner of Nature:
In Act 1, Antony mourns the depth of his fall from the greatest height of power, his misfortunes, and his lack of a future. During this fit of melancholy, he imagines a life in which he is not an emperor but instead a simple, ordinary shepherd, using vivid visual imagery to evoke an idealized alternate reality:
Stay, I fancy
I’m now turned wild, a commoner of Nature;
Of all forsaken, and forsaking all,
Live in a shady forest’s sylvan scene,
Stretched at my length beneath some blasted oak;
I lean my head upon the mossy bark,
And look just of a piece, as I grew from it ;
My uncombed locks, matted like mistletoe,
Hang o’er my hoary face; a murmuring brook
Runs at my foot.
[...]
The herd come jumping by me,
And, fearless, quench their thirst while I look on,
And take me for their fellow-citizen.
Related Themes:
Act 5
Explanation and Analysis—Is This Not Like Lovers?:
Cleopatra’s discovery of Antony’s death in Act 5 leads to a stunning, heartbreaking bout of imagery as she struggles comes to terms with the loss of her lover:
Unlock with LitCharts A+’Tis sweet to die when they would force life on me;
To rush into the dark abode of Death,
And seize him first. If he be like my love,
He is not frightful, sure.
Related Themes:
