Question

Read the adapted excerpt from the poem "On Imagination" by Phillis Wheatley.
Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring mode,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul.
What does the speaker compare imagination to in the poem?

Answer 1

In the given excerpt the poet is comparing imagination with a soaring bird. The word soaring through the air sheds light on this reference.

Explanation:

• Further on, the words "measure the skies" also elaborate on this idea.

• Since the poet wants to describe that imagination and birds both are boundless as birds can fly wherever they want to without any limit.