field of astronomy, mechanics, and many other sciences
is assisted at certain points by the ability to form clear and accurate
images.

THE USE OF IMAGERY IN LITERATURE.--Facility in the use of imagery
undoubtedly adds much to our enjoyment and appreciation of certain
forms of literature. The great writers commonly use all types of images
in their description and narration. If we are not able to employ the
images they used, many of their most beautiful pictures are likely to be
to us but so many words suggesting prosaic ideas.

Shakespeare, describing certain beautiful music, appeals to the sense of
smell to make himself understood:

... it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odor!

_Lady Macbeth_ cries:

Here's the smell of the blood still:
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.

Milton has _Eve_ say of her dream of the fatal apple:

... The pleasant sav'ry smell
So quickened appetite, that I, methought,
Could not but taste.

Likewise with the sense of touch:

... I take thy hand, this hand
As soft as dove's down, and as white as it.

Imagine a person devoid of delicate tactile imagery, with senseless
finger tips and leaden footsteps, undertaking to interpret these
exquisite lines:

Thus I set my printless feet
O'er the cowslip's velvet head,
That bends not as I tread.

Shakespeare thus appeals to the muscular imagery:

At last, a little shaking of mine arm
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
He raised a sigh so piteous and profound
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
And end his being.

Many passages like the following appeal to the temperature images:

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot!

To one whose auditory imagery is meager, the following lines will lose
something of their beauty:

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here we will sit and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears; soft stillness and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.

Note how much clear images will add to Browning's words:

Are there not two moments in the adventure of a diver--one when a
beggar he prepares to plunge, and one, when a prince he rises with
his pearl?

POINTS WHERE IMAGES ARE OF GREATEST SERVICE.--Beyond question, many
images come