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Idioms
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
Key Examples in Love's Labor's Lost
Act 5, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—The Winter Song:
After Holofernes, Nathaniel, and the remaining cast of the Nine Worthies pageant perform a song about spring, they follow it with a short song about winter. Like the spring song, the winter song is full of evocative images, both sonic and visual:
WINTER
[...] When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl
“Tu-whit to-who.” A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—The Spring Song:
At the play’s end, Holofernes, Nathaniel, and the remaining cast of the Nine Worthies pageant perform two songs about spring and winter from the perspective of an owl and a cuckoo. The verses are full of visual and sonic imagery:
Unlock with LitCharts A+When daisies pied and violets blue,
And lady-smocks all silver-white,
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight,
The cuckoo then on every tree
Mocks married men; for thus sings he:
"Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo!" O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear.
Related Themes:
