A daisy on a blue floor | Photo by Elly Endeavours on Unsplash

Poets use symbolism in poetry for specific functions, making their work unique, compelling, and powerful.

Poetry is a form of writing that uses images and intricate flow of words that opens a door to an adventure and emotional rollercoaster. Symbolism in poetry helps elevate your way of understanding the form. It equips you with a style in seeing through the words and imagery through context clues.

Raymond Quattlebaum’s Poetry in Motion is a compilation of poetry that offers an insight about life. Creating the images through the intricacies of Quattlebaum’s words, each poem takes the readers on a journey through life using the author’s lenses. Quattlebaum’s sense of symbolism in poetry allows the readers to have fun and understand different emotions line by line.

So, why is symbolism in poetry important? Does it advance the flow of a poem’s narrative? Here are some pointers that writers have to consider:

Symbolism Helps Create an Emotional Journey

Some of us may have been thinking that symbolism in poetry only works to hide an identity of an object or the subject of the poem. Well, yes, it does conceal identities but it also works to heighten the emotional journey as we read from verse to verse.

In Quattlebaum’s poem Attitude in Poetry of Motion, the audience is already given the subject of the poem – Attitude. The poem’s style is to readily provide the readers with the different symbols that relate to the topic:

• A flock of geese flying
• A positive reflection
• A baby crying
• A designer designing
• The crackling of fire
• A person
• A dog running down the block
• A hawk flying through the air
• A diver diving to the bottom of the ocean
• The newspaper of life

Through this, the readers get to have a chance of understanding the different meanings of attitude. There is a journey that lets the readers relate to the emotions that they feel.

Symbolism Strengthens Imagery

Symbolism in poetry does not only let the readers get on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It also helps the readers see the visions of the author. The subject of symbolism can have different meanings throughout the passages. Writers use images to form a connection with the readers, letting them perceive the words as images in their minds. With this, readers can exercise their way of perceiving each line or verse to denote meaning, giving way to understanding what the author meant.

Symbolism Connects Themes

Have you been asked about the meaning of a certain object in a passage (i.e., the color of a curtain in a short story or poem) in a literature class? Yes, some teachers would really ask about the meaning of objects in stories that readers may think are random.

Photo by Raghuvansh Luthra on Unsplash

Symbolism adds layers to the narrative the author wants to tell his readers. It connects themes in literature and the real world, letting readers explore more about the meanings of objects in literary works. It is a subtle way of providing the readers with a theme that can resonate with the current world.

Symbolism Defines Characters

Poetry primarily delves into the emotion of the writer or narrator. The literary form is mainly written from the first-person point of view. Some poems introduce characters that have unique characteristics, just like in prose. Symbolism in poetry, readers get to know more about the characters through the nuances, color schemes, and word use. It defines the characters to help the readers understand the layers of the narrative more.

Symbolism Euphonizes Dark Subjects

Symbolism in poetry helps readers become smarter in understanding words in verses. Some subject matters may talk about the taboos or the dark side of things. With symbolism, the writer can put other things in place of the subject that will still talk about its qualities. This figure of speech allows the readers to explore and learn about taboos and other sensitive topics while offering a different perspective for those who are not yet ready to talk about dark subjects like death, sex, war, drugs, and disease.

Quattlebaum’s Poetry in Motion is a compilation of thirty-four poems that delve into the stages and meaning of life. You may check on the symbolism in the poems and see how you can relate the themes to the real world. Each poem tells a unique story that takes its readers to different perspectives in life, showing how beautiful it is and how blessed we are.

Get a copy of Poetry in Motion by Raymond Quattlebaum to let your thoughts have their vacation and see the beauty of the world through the author’s lexical magic.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Symbolism in poetry is important to heighten the sense of both the author and the readers. It helps enhance the structure and flow of the literary work. Moreover, it makes the readers become more aware of hidden meanings, and double takes on a certain object in the passages. Symbolism in poetry creates an emotional journey, strengthens imagery, connects themes, defines characters, and euphonizes dark subjects.