Home › Glossary › Letter S

Surrounding imagery

Imagery
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 defines the encompassing environment or atmosphere around a central subject, establishing mood or context.

Detailed Definition
Surrounding imagery consists of descriptive details that envelop a central image or subject, creating an atmospheric or contextual halo that deepens its emotional or symbolic resonance; rather than focusing narrowly, this technique uses peripheral sensory data—background sounds, ambient light, adjacent objects—to situate the focal point within a lived, multidimensional space, as in haiku that imply seasons through contextual kigo words.
Example
Example in poetry:
Surrounding imagery envelops a central image with contextual details: In “Ode to a Nightingale,” Keats surrounds the bird with “beechen green” and “embalmed darkness”; A poem about a candle includes “melted wax pooling on oak,” “flickering shadows on plaster,” “scent of beeswax and old books”; Surrounding imagery in haiku: “old pond / frog jumps in / sound of water” — the pond and sound frame the frog; “Winter branches etch the sky, / crows call, / snow hushes the road” — sky, crows, snow surround implied traveler.
Additional Notes
Surrounding imagery|The descriptive details, metaphors, and sensory language that contextually frame and enrich a central idea, character, or action within a poem; creates the setting and atmosphere.
Also Known As
Encircling imagery Surrounding vision Enveloping picture Ambient imagery
Skip to main content