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? A. a soaring bird B. the sky C. a cloud D. a sailing ship
Answers
The answer is a) a soaring bird.
'On imagination' is a poem by Phillis Wheatley, an African slave who was freed by an American family.
In the poem, the poet compares imagination to a soaring bird. Imagination is like bird flying in the air and searching for right place to rest.
Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring mode
The home of the bird is the endless sky.
It passes through the winds and leaves the universe behind.
Similarly while imagination, we can fly very swiftly and ghastly like the wind and leave everything behind and move away from the earth.
The speaker, or the persona of the poem, might compare imagination with a soaring bird.
This is supported by certain phrases in the poem.
For instance, ‘swiftness of thy course’ might indicate the swiftness in which a bird flies.
The word ‘soaring’ in itself is an indication.
While other elements soar too, yet nothing soars as swiftly as a bird.
When there is a phrase, ‘measure the skies’, the birds have the closest look to it.
Hence, most images are connected to a bird.