The Components of Imagery and Their Two Functions: Tone and Implicit Signification

Simile, and generally imagery, can be analyzed from a myriad of perspectives. Amongst them is the elements of images — their effects and roles in the rhetoric of a given poem and in its ironic meanings. This paper studies two prominent functions of the signification of the elements of imagery. First, we analyze the role the elements of images play in constructing the tone. To do so, we demonstrate how different selections of elements form different kinds of textual tone and ambience. Second, we examine the potential and capacity of the vehicle and the elements of simile in generating their implicit and secondary implications. This potential is sometimes fulfilled to the extent that these elements and their ironic significations assume a more crucial role than the grounds of a simile. Thus, the function of vehicle may go beyond exaggeration or expounding on the tenor and its potential implications may turn it into the main locus of simile and signification. The paper provides examples from some poems in order to avoid any ambiguity.