Use of Images and Symbols in the Poetry of Kamala Das

Image in poetry is the making of a picture in terms of words. It is a device for making the experience of life vivid and life like. Poets deficient in this art of image making fail in their vocation. It exploits different sensory perceptions and pin down his experiences with precision and thereby evokes a living and pulsating picture of life. A.N. Dwivedi says: “Imagery serves twin-purposes together-that of ‘ornamentation’ and that of arousing ‘aesthetic pleasure’ in the reader” (2000:65). The process of ‘image-making’ involves the skilful use of metaphors, similes, contrasts, and may be equated to ‘picture-making’ or ‘concretization of emotions’. Symbol is the use of an object for signifying something that is beyond the literal denotation of the object. It is a potent tool arising out of the vibrant imaginative perception of reality. A work of art without proper symbolism is as worthless as a flower without fragrance. How ever rich and profound a thought may be it has a very little significance in the realm of art and literature unless it is woven into the fabric of images and symbols. History is replete with instances that most of the poets thrived and rose to eminence with the help of putting thoughts into the pattern of images and symbols.