If I sit at my desk and imagine "the cold sands of Mars," for example, can this be designated concrete imagery even though I haven't left the room, let alone the planet!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
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Position:Home>Poetry> Can imaginary imagery also be designated "concrete?"?Question: Can imaginary imagery also be designated "concrete!?"!? If I sit at my desk and imagine "the cold sands of Mars," for example, can this be designated concrete imagery even though I haven't left the room, let alone the planet!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It depends if you're talking about a concrete "image" or a "concrete poem"!.!.!.a concrete poem is where the text is so positioned as to create an image of the thing you're talking about!.!.!.like a poem about trees where the position of the words create the image of a tree on the page!.!.!.this is also called "Carmen Figuraturum"!. A concrete image, on the other hand, is something that carries a fixed image regardless of who reads it!. For example, a "dog" is an image, but it could be any breed of dog, whereas a "golden retriever" carries a specific image that would be considered a "concrete" image!. So, you say "the cold sands of Mars", I'd say that "that" is a pretty specific image, as most of those who don't live in a closet or under a rock would know that Mars is reddish in color and the sand is rather course looking!.!.!.so your image has a fairly concrete status!.Www@QuestionHome@Com All the images in a poem are in some sense "imaginary!." If a poet writes about his lover's kisses, you don't actually experience the physical sensation of a kiss when you read the poem!. But the image is still a concrete one, because it conjures up a physical reality, something that addresses one or more of the five senses!. If, on the other hand, the poet writes about "love" or "faith" or "truth," those are abstractions, not concrete images!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I think it should be!. After all, if a thought can be concrete, when we all know that they are the most elusive things of all, why can there not be concrete imagery of a place that you have never been!. The thought is firm in your mind, therefore the image is firm in your writing and in the minds of others!.Www@QuestionHome@Com If you mix thoughts of "the cold sands of Mars'' with images of water, cement, fly ash, and gravel, then it surely be designated as concrete imagery!. I hope that you have not yet become hardened to this idea!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Yes!. What I meant is, Prufrock's descriptions are his delusions; figments of his imagination!. Prufrock's imagination is a real thing!. The images of that ego are transitory; ephemeral, not concrete!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Yes it is concrete imagery because they do exist do they not!?Www@QuestionHome@Com I would vote for Kevin S on this!. A great explanation!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |