Imagery in Whitman's Poetry

Whitman's poetics is constructed around the organic principles of nature and her symbols of spirit. in essence the organic principle states that form takes its origin from within and that "poetic expression will find its own natural rhythms in the act of expression" (Wilson p.37). there is a liberal use of metaphors, symbols, imagery, catalogues etc,.

Whitman's imagery reveals his imaginative power, the profound understanding of sensory perceptions and his unique capacity to capture reality instantaneously. there is a sort of logical order on the conscious level but at the same time, it probes into the subconscious, into the world of memories and produces a stream of consciousness of images. for instance the major image of the "ferry" in "Crossing Broklyn Ferry". This symbolises the continual movement, backward and forward, which resembles the universal motion in space and time.

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