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Abstract Imagery

Imagery
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Imagery that represents intangible concepts like time, justice, or love.

Detailed Definition
Abstract Imagery renders non-physical ideas through symbolic or metaphorical language, making the invisible palpable; while less sensory than concrete imagery, it enables poets to explore philosophical themes—such as depicting “freedom as a bird in flight”—and invites readers to interpret layered meanings beyond literal description.
Example
Example in poetry:
Love is a force beyond measure, invisible yet all-consuming; Freedom feels like an open sky with no borders; Grief is a hollow space echoing with absence; Time is a river flowing without origin or end; Hope is a fragile thread connecting dreams to reality; Justice is an abstract scale balancing unseen weights
Additional Notes
Abstract Imagery evokes intangible concepts like love, time, or justice through suggestive language rather than concrete sensory details; it often relies on metaphor or symbol to convey emotional or philosophical states; while less common in strictly imagist poetry (which favors the concrete), it appears powerfully in metaphysical or meditative verse; students should balance abstract imagery with grounding sensory details to avoid vagueness; poets like Emily Dickinson and T.S. Eliot skillfully blend abstract and concrete imagery to explore complex inner worlds
Also Known As
Conceptual Imagery Non-Representational Imagery
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