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Olfactory image cluster

Device
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

An olfactory image cluster groups sensory details centered on smell—such as decay, perfume, or earth—to evoke memory, mood, or atmosphere.

Detailed Definition
An olfactory image cluster is a concentrated sequence of scent-based descriptions—perfume, decay, earth, smoke—that work together to evoke memory, mood, or setting; because smell is deeply tied to emotion and recollection, such clusters can powerfully anchor a poem’s atmosphere or psychological depth.
Example
Example in poetry:
Olfactory image cluster in Baudelaire’s “Correspondences” (“perfumes, colors, and sounds respond”); scent memories in Proust-inspired verse; clusters of “jasmine, rot, incense” in Ocean Vuong; olfactory overload in Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” (“smell of glue”)
Additional Notes
Olfactory image cluster groups scent imagery for atmospheric or emotional effect. Less common than visual imagery; creates intimacy, memory, mood. Study Baudelaire's synesthesia. Scent's connection to memory makes powerful emotional tool.
Also Known As
Smell image group Scent cluster Odor collection Olfactory bundle
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