Middle School English · Poetry · Unit 2
Imagery: Painting with Words
Fog that walks like a cat, and a wheelbarrow shining in the rain.
In Unit 1 you listened to poems. Now you will look, touch and feel them.
Poets don’t just tell you “it was foggy.” They make you see the fog. Language that does this is called imagery. In this unit you will read two short poems, each under fifty words, that are famous for their pictures.
On this page: the five senses in poetry, two poems with notes, a writing prompt, and a self-guided quiz.
Imagery and the Five Senses
Imagery is language that helps you see, hear, feel, smell or taste something. Each detail that reaches a sense is a sensory detail.
Sight
Colors, shapes, light and movement: a red wheel / barrow.
Sound
Noises, and silence too: on silent haunches.
Touch
Wet, rough, cold, soft: glazed with rain / water.
Smell and taste
Often the strongest memories. Neither poem here uses them, so try them in your own writing.
Metaphor
A metaphor describes one thing as if it were another, without “like” or “as.” Sandburg’s fog has little cat feet, but he never says the word “like.”
“Fog” by Carl Sandburg
Poem · from Chicago Poems (1916), section “Handfuls”
Text: Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems (New York: Henry Holt, 1916), p. 71. Public domain. Transcribed from page scans of the first edition at Wikisource (proofread and validated). The first word, “The,” is set in small capitals in the book.
One picture, start to finish
The whole poem is one metaphor: the fog is a cat. It comes in quietly, sits and watches, then leaves. Cats do all three.
Words that make you feel it
Haunches are the back legs an animal sits on. “Silent haunches” lets you feel how still and soft the fog is. You can almost hear the quiet.
No rhyme, no beat
Unlike the Unit 1 poems, “Fog” has no rhyme and no steady beat. This is free verse. The pictures do the work instead of the music.
“The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams
Poem · from Spring and All (1923), printed as poem “XXII”
Text: William Carlos Williams, Spring and All (Contact Publishing, 1923), p. 74, poem XXII. Public domain in the United States. Checked against the University of Virginia’s transcription of the first edition, Literature in Context: An Open Anthology, and the Poetry Foundation text; the words match. In 1923 the poem had only the number “XXII.” The title “The Red Wheelbarrow” came later. The poem has no capital letters and no final period.
Look closely
The poem shows one small scene: a red wheelbarrow, wet and shiny from the rain, next to white chickens. Red against white is a bright, sharp contrast.
Line breaks as a camera
Williams splits wheel / barrow and rain / water across lines. Each break makes you pause and look at one part at a time, like a camera zooming in.
“So much depends”
The poem never says what depends on the wheelbarrow. Why might an ordinary tool matter so much? There is more than one good answer.
Your Turn to Write
Prompt: Pick one ordinary object you saw today: a backpack, a lunch tray, a bike in the rain. Write a short poem of 4 to 8 lines about it. Use:
- at least two senses (for example, sight and touch),
- one color word, and
- one metaphor, like Sandburg’s cat-footed fog.
Don’t worry about rhyme. Try breaking a line in a surprising place, the way Williams did, and read it aloud to hear the pause.
Write your draft on a separate sheet of paper.
Self-Guided Quiz
Six questions on the poems above. Choose one answer for each, then check your answers. You can try again as many times as you like.
Sources and Credits
- Sandburg, Chicago Poems (Henry Holt, 1916), p. 71: Wikisource transcription from page scans.
- Williams, Spring and All (Contact Publishing, 1923), p. 74: University of Virginia, Literature in Context; Poetry Foundation.
Colophon: the fog-and-wheelbarrow illustration and share image are original art made for Jugami.