Spiritual_Imagery

Spiritual Scenery in Poetry Imagery is one of these techniques that authors use very often, especially in poetry. Both William Butler Yeats and Quincy Troupe use spiritual imagery in their poems. Yeats uses spiritual imagery from a Christian Bible to express his poem. Many of his references were from the book of Revelations and the Second Coming, hence the title of his poem was also named, “The Second Coming.” He describes the rough beast, referring to the beast of Revelations. What Yeats is actually referring to is the devil and the sign of 666. Also there are many references to the wars that had taken place to show how things are falling apart. This is used when he writes of the bird handler and the bird’s ties being broken. This is a symbol showing how ties are falling apart, anarchy is upon the world and there is a lack of rule. Again he uses spiritual imagery by writing that the innocence is drowned by the blood-diamond tide, which is due a lack of order and rule. A reason for this was also due to human rational, which led to the violence and bloodshed of his time. Many of these images are repeated and foreshadow the time of the second coming from the Book of Revelations. Yeats also writes of the “best” and “worst” in his poem. He writes of the “best” referencing the wisdom of reason for people to be civil and just. The “worst” is meant to show that people are pushing for war and eventually pushing for war to bring change. Lastly, Yeats was where the scene from “Ghostbusters” originated from. This scene took place on top of a skyscraper with gargoyles on the edge of the building. This was a symbol of when status was beginning to move in a different direction. However, amidst all the wrong that was going on with the world, Yeasts references the beast at the end of all the chaos that has taken place. In the piece by Quincy Troupe, “Poem for the Root Doctor of Rock n Roll” he also uses spiritual imagery to bring his poem to life. However, he uses a different type of religious imagery than Yeats does in his poem. His religious imagery came from the Mississippi River – Delta Blues. He speaks of hoodoo which is related to folk magic medicine, also known as Neo American voodoo which helps with healing of people. Troupe writes of the mojo – hand that brings power, both spiritual and psychological. The mojo hand was referenced to a shaman, who would carry around a bag filled with earthly parts such as roots, dirt, leaves and bones to cure sickly people. Troupe also writes of a Root doctor, who was an herbalist that would also heal people with natural, earth – growing items. Rock and roll, according to Troupe was a type of Juju, spells being cast to heal individuals. Along with the juju came “Majoring in Mouth” which was the blues type of music that was being sung in the Mississippi delta. Troupe writes of the “Devils Music” that was looked down upon by most and was stolen by the bigger names of today such as Elvis Presley. Later in his poem, he talks about the root doctor who is able to bring spirits of ancient ancestor to the foreground for many people to see what it is all about. Through the poem, he is putting information together to give praise to Chuck Berry who was the originator of Rock n Roll. Both of these authors use a type of spiritual imagery to set the tone and bring their poems to life for audiences reading them. However, each author uses a different type of spiritual imagery. William Yeats uses more of a Christian spiritual imagery with many references from the Bible and the book of Revelations. Quincy Troupe uses a form of ancient magic and spell casting for his spiritual imagery. Even though they use a different type of imagery one can see many similarities in their pieces of work. These help to pull the reader in and allow the reader to better understand the poem and what the author is trying to convey.