The Poet Uses Visual Imagery To Highlight The Poor Conditions That Exists In The City. Creative Writing Examples

Thesis:

Eliot’s striking use of contrast draws a rich imagery to the poem and gives the reader a clear picture of the hazards of the city.

Introduction

Eliot’s use of imagery is outstanding as he draws a desolate picture of an intimate moment that imitates the movements of a cat.

Speaks about the effectiveness of the image of the cab – horse as a helpless rage that leads to frustration and alienation.

Compares the streets and maintains the image throughout the poem.

Compares the desolation of the city to the possibility of hope
Speaks to the impact of simple language to bring across figurative and literal imagery in the poem
Conclusion: Shows how Eliot6’s personal feelings influences his ideas in the poem
A Critical Analysis of Rich Imagery in Eliot’s The Winter Evening Settles Down
T. S. Eliot’s “The Winter Evening Settles Down” is a reflection on the pointless, boring, and poverty ridden city and the random image of the events that occurs within the cityscape. The title suggests that despite the desolate conditions, the cold, quiet winter evening offers a sense of relaxation as people often relax in the cold weather. Eliot presents a striking contrast that settles on the reader and gives the reader the tranquility that contrasts with the broken city that mankind destroys with technology. However, the title of the poem “The Winter Evening Settles Down” draws the reader into a cold and desolate evening where individuals settle for an evening as they eat and smoke after a long day at work. Based on the visual imagery in the title, one expects a calming and quiet evening, but instead one is treated to the harsh realities that exist within a developed city. Eliot’s striking use of contrast between title and the body draws a rich imagery to the poem and gives the reader a clear picture of the hazards of the city.
Eliot’s use of imagery is outstanding as he draws a desolate picture of a society that accepts the changes that come with technology even as the citizens relax and enjoy the “smell of steak” (1) and “the burnt – out ends of smoky days,” (3). This visual imagery presents a dreary visual picture in the “withered leaves about your feet,” (6) because no one seems to care about the changes outside of their homes. Clearly, there is the implication that the people are exhausted or cold as no one is outside as evening comes. Conversely, there is the indication that Eliot wants to draw the reader to the feeling that the persona sees the ease in which one eats and then smokes. The smoke mingles with the smell of steak and indicates that the day comes to an end as the “winter evening settles down.”
Additionally, the poet uses visual imagery to highlight the poor conditions that exists in the city. He says to: “The showers beat/On broken blinds and chimney pots,” (8 – 9). The sporadic showers and the grimy landscape further add to the disarray on the streets as the “withered leaves,” (7). In fact, this visual imagery is symbolic of the lifelessness and the hollowness of the technological changes in the society as the person looks at the grime, the broken window blinds, and the empty lots. One can easily associate this setting with a society that is not completely developed. While one may embrace the ease that technology brings to the city, one must be cognizant of the fact that the technological changes in the modern city destroy the beauty of the society as construction work often destroys the natural habitat and leaves empty lots of land even as they pause for future development. In fact, the “vacant lots” (8) suggests that the tress had been cut and the land cleared for new construction work to take place.
Eliot uses imagery brings about the negative view of the desolation in the society. The destruction of nature impacts the lives of everyone including animals. The cab – horse is lonely and suggests that there is a helpless rage that leads to frustration and alienation of not being able to enjoy nature’s beauty because of the absence of the trees and the hard surface of the roads that it stands on. The horse stamps its feet in line 12 even as it waits on its master to return. The image of the impatient horse leads the reader to conclude that the vacant lots lacked development and the horse does not enjoy being in a desolate place that is void of trees in the empty lots. In addition, the “lighting of the lamps” (13) could create discomfort for the horse that is used to the quiet darkness of the woodlands. The settling of the residents on the winter evening comes through Eliot’s image of the ending of the day. One clearly sees that the residents accept the conditions of the city as the poet suggests that at “six o’clock” (3) there is no one on the streets because it is dinner time. The smell of the steaks and the smoke from the chimneys give the visual image of contentment even as “the showers beat” (9) on the outside.
Imagery is an important theme in any writer’s work as it adds meaning to the way individuals see the actions in the literary work. Eliot inserts the image of the lamps: “And then the lighting of the lamps,” (12), to show that despite the dark and cold rainy evening when the “showers beat” (9) it offers a light of hope. In modern times one sees the light in the darkness as a ray of a better life to come. Could this suggest that the persona hopes for a better life even though the city is damp and void of nature’s hand? The persona easily switches his image of a dirty city that has “withered leaves” (7) and “newspapers from vacant lots” (8) to one that includes the lamp lighting itself at the end of the day. The image of the leaves and newspapers littering the streets indicates that people are too busy with their lives that they have no time to enjoy the beauty of the world around. These individuals do not make the effort to clean the streets or fix the window blinds as they are tired even as they settle down at six o’clock on a winter evening. With the start of the winter season, the town is empty and the reader feels a sense of emptiness and desertion. The “vacant lots” (7) and the “broken blinds and chimney pots” (9) further adds to the visual desolation even as the tranquility of the winter evening seeps through the imagination of the poet. Conversely, the image of the relentless and merciless rain in a desolate city (9-10) shows a dark image and a dark setting.
In concluding, Eliot disapproves of the desolate life in the city. He is cynical as he uses a number of figurative devices to create the negative image of the total desolation of the city in the modern society. His use of metaphors adds to imagery as he makes the comparison between the broken city and the calm, serenity of winter. One can easily conclude that his cynical views symbolizes the end of the beauty of life as the showers not only falls, but beats down on the city amidst the clear destruction that mankind forges in the city through the empty lots that are ripe for future development and the broken blinds. Nevertheless, Eliot shows optimism in the fact that hope comes through as he contradicts the image of the desolation with the city lights and the firm movements of the horse.