Examples of images in modern poetry

1, figurative. Metaphor is one of the most basic expressions of poetry, and its main task is to visualize poetry works. In poetry, images used as metaphors can be called figurative images. Metaphor can be divided into simile and metaphor. Simile requires both ontology and vehicle to appear in the poem, and words such as "ru", "simile", "if" and "like" should be added between them. In simile, ontology and vehicle have some similarities, but they are not the same. For example, soft as clouds/light as wind/brighter than the moon/quieter than night/human body in space. This is a poem written by Ai Qing after watching ulanova's ballet serenade. The ontology in metaphor is the dancer's "human body", and the vehicles are "cloud" and "wind". Images in modern poetry usually use metaphor (or metaphor) and metaphor. The so-called metaphor is to describe the vehicle as ontology, implying its consistent characteristics. As for Quyu, it is a fantastic idea, a strange and bold association that is almost unreasonable, and a whimsical variation that ordinary people can't imagine. But if handled properly in poetry, it can produce unexpected and amazing effects. For example, this is a desperate dead ditch/the breeze can't blow the slightest. Wen Yiduo's Dead Water compares the dark old China to a ditch of stagnant water. The whole poem is a metaphor. It uses a ditch of stagnant water as a metaphor to describe the stagnant, stinking and lifeless social reality.

2. Symbolic image. Symbol refers to the artistic technique of conveying the author's profound thoughts or expressing things with special significance by means of the external characteristics of things. Symbolic images in modern poetry can express a certain meaning. For example, the sun is a symbol of light, the dove is a symbol of peace, the jackal is a symbol of cruelty, the sheep is a symbol of meekness, the peacock is a symbol of pride, the rose is a symbol of beauty, and the lily is a symbol of purity ... In modern poetry, the symbolic meaning of the same image in different poems can be different. Wolves can symbolize cruelty, but sometimes they can also symbolize wildness, freedom and so on. Therefore, the symbolic meaning of images in modern poetry is often uncertain. From the perspective of reception aesthetics, it can be transferred with different readers' perspectives and backgrounds, and it can be interpreted in different ways. For example, Ai Qing's "Reef": waves/waves/endless/every wave is at its feet/broken into foam/scattered all over the floor/its face and body/like a knife cut/but it still stands there/smiles/looks at the "reef" in the poem, which is obviously a kind of personification (with body, feet and. But it symbolizes something specific, and readers can use their imagination, and there is no unique and clear definition. Therefore, symbolic images can arouse the fuzziness and uncertainty of people's association and open up the space of free imagination.

3. Descriptive images. It is impossible to write poems with metaphors and symbols everywhere, so apart from figurative images and symbolic images, poets use descriptive images the most. The most basic and universal function of images is still used by poets to describe scenery and things and express their thoughts and feelings. For example, Xu Zhimo's masterpiece "Farewell to Cambridge" is a poem about a poet boating in Cambridge in search of a dream, which came and went smartly. The poet showed a series of descriptive images, such as clouds, golden willows, sunset, waves, green grass, clear springs, rainbows, dreams, magnificence, songs, flutes and summer insects ... These images all surrounded and set off the theme of "seeking dreams" and were "gentle" from the beginning.