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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
Book I, Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—The Lovely Road:
Stephen Kumalo’s journey opens with vivid imagery. As the narrator introduces the reader to the South African landscape in Chapter 1, the novel’s wealth of visual descriptions evokes a lush natural world:
There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken, and the forlorn crying of the titihoya, one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East.
Related Themes:
Book I, Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Umzimkulu Valley:
After giving a taste of the gorgeous scenery in Chapter 1, natural imagery returns to the beginning of Chapter 3 when Stephen Kumalo departs for Johannesburg. The narrator’s account of the Umzimkulu Valley makes for a stunning view and just as fitting a “prelude to adventure”:
Unlock with LitCharts A+If there is mist here, you will see nothing of the great valley. The mist will swirl about and below you, and the train and the people make a small world of their own. Some people do not like it, and find it cold and gloomy. But others like it, and find in it mystery and fascination, and prelude to adventure, and an intimation of the unknown. The train passes through a world of fancy, and you can look through the misty panes at green shadowy banks of grass and bracken. Here in their season grow the blue agapanthus, the wild watsonia, and the red-hot poker, and now and then it happens that one may glimpse an arum in a dell. And always behind them the dim wall of the wattles, like ghosts in the mist.
Related Themes:
