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Heaney conveys the figurative layer through the imagery of death, literary allusions, and religious imagery. In “Blackberry-Picking”, the technique of death imagery contributed to the significance that death/sin had, as part of the underlying message of this “picking”. The poem describes how “The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.” The verse from the poem shows how the products of this picking, which were the berries, had in turn faced this rotting death, contributing to the significance of the process of life and death in the poem. In addition, another technique employed in the writing was literary allusions. An example of such allusions would be “Palms sticky as Bluebeard’s”. Bluebeard was a notorious killer in his own work, and using an allusion to this character, not only signifies, but significantly increases the presence of death/sin within the poem. In addition, Heaney utilizes imagery of religion as a technique to construct the poem. The line, “Like thickened wine: summer’s blood was in it” describes Christ’s blood since Heaney contains a background of Catholicism which accounts for the religious apart of her life while growing up. Finally, the portion of the line “Leaving stains upon the tongue” refers to the Eucharist, in which there is a process of the communion during the Catholic Mass which explains the usage of the word tongue in this line. Thus, it can be seen how death imagery, literary allusions, and religious imagery depict the figurative layer of sin and

punishment in “Blackberry-Picking”.

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Seamus Heaney uses descriptive imagery of nature and the blackberries to convey the literal story of the poem. Heaney describes that the youth’s hopeful optimism is about “tasting” life, and the speaker literally tastes the blackberries. The taste of the first berry that was consumed is compared to “thickened Wine...summers blood.” The following lines go on to say “round hay fields….corn fields...potato drills.” From this, it is clear that the boys are literally running around picking berries and the madness of the juice makes them want more. Moreover, there is rich and intense diction within this poem that aids the imagery involved in helping creating the connotative or literal meaning. The use of diction and imagery allows both a connotative and denotative meaning to be acquired which is the reason we have literal and abstract meanings.

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In the poem “Blackberry-Picking”, the author Seamus Heanrey emphasizes the method by which sins are punished by relating the action of blackberry picking to actions of greed and lust. To describe the boys preparing to pick berries, Heanrey uses the list of “milk cans, pea tins, jam-pots” in order to exaggerate how interested each person is in the activity. The use of abnormal substitutes for buckets makes it seem as if every normal container was already taken and because no one wants to miss out on the need for berries, they grabbed whatever was seen first. Henry also references one of the most well-known pirates, stating that “our palms sticky as Bluebeard’s”. Bluebeard and pirates, in general, are known for their plundering of booty or treasure and in this case, Heanrey uses the reference to exemplify the feelings of the boys who are exploiting their situation, being overcome with the greed and lust for a larger amount berries.

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Heany conveys the literal meaning through the contrast of the life and death of the plant. The life aspect can be seen in line 2, when he writes, “For a full week, the blackberries would ripen”. This shows the fullness of nature’s life and establishes happy tone and lays out some scenery. The death aspect is shown in lines 19 and 20, where he says, “A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache. The juice was stinking too”. This disgusting description is unsettling. It creates a harsh contrast between death and the life that had just been described before.

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Heaney develops the poem in a literal narrative associated with the

sin and evanescence of life through the shifts from a bright and hopeful perspective to a dark and anticipating tone. From stanza one through stanza twelve, the narrator

continuously feels very excited and anticipates the blackberry season. In the seventh stanza,“ Then the red ones inked up in that hunger sent us out... bleached our boots”.The boys going out to pick blackberries provides a foretelling tone as they wait for August to enjoy this seasonal sweetness. Moreover, within stanza two, the poem

states “You ate the first one and its flesh was sweet...Leaving stains on the tongue and lust for Picking.” This gives connotation of the literal

tone of youth over logic through the usage of diction that describes the negative aspects of blackberry picking while listing the motive that the narrator uses to justify it. Additionally, the last stanza describes how each year the boys hoped the blackberries would avoid being rotten, even though they knew would still happen. The disappointing tone of this stanza shows the evanescence of life because they fear that the blackberries will rot away as the season comes to an end and that the boys will lose the pleasure they had while berrypicking. Heaney’s use of shifts and tone helps to further development the literal meaning of the poem.

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In the poem “Blueberry Picking,” Heaney conveys the literal but also figurative meaning through the sue of nature imagery and the description of decay. As the poem begins, the reader sees the good impact that blueberry picking has on the family that is picking them and this is shown through that nature imagery. It says how the “heavy rain and sun,” causes the “blackberries to ripen...a glossy purple clot.” It describes how the berries are “sweet like thickened wine.” All of the descriptions shows how Berry picking is a nice time due to the berries being so good to eat and this all shown in how they are all described. As the poem progresses, it starts to show the true reality of Berry picking. Descriptions of decay start to appear. The author uses words such as “fur, rat-grey fungus, glutting, stinking, and sweet flesh would turn sour” to convey that things can turn on you very fast , especially in life. It's showing the the berry is like our lives; you can find something good in life but that thing/person can turn on you very quickly even when you knew it would have. The family trusted the berries every year even though they knew they would rot in the end. This shows when it says “Each year I hoped they’d keep, knew they would not.” The transition from beauty to decay is drastic in the poem but proves the meaning of the poem. It shows how a person might trust someone/something that they know can’t be trusted in the long run.

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The setting of the passage is displayed through a literal meaning and can be viewed as having a deeper meaning in regards to reflecting back on past experiences. The boys were intent on picking blackberries due to the seasonal rains making them ripe.The boys examined the blackberry bushes, “a glossy purple clot, red, green, hard”. The rains had made the blackberries flourish which caused the boys to eagerly look for a ripe bush. The boys trek from place to place to find the right bushes, “round hay fields, cornfields, and potato drills.” This place seems to be in the speaker's memories. The details and vivid words that is described by the setting is displayed as a memory that has not been forgotten.

The speakers memory helped convey the valuable lesson learned through the boys action on that summer day. The boys ate their first blackberry of the season claiming “its flesh was sweet” and even later “hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.” The boys eating their first taste gave them a lusting for even more and even drove the boys to start collecting, hoarding and storing them away just as a pirate would collect and hoard their own treasure away. In the end the speaker admits to the readers that each year the boys had hoped the blueberries would keep, lusting after them and trying to store them away, however the boys eventually admit that even though their desire to have the berries as long as possible they knew every year would be a another year for longing.

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Heaney conveys the connection between sin and punishment through the use of imagery and negative diction. The poem transitions from lust to gultney in the form of imagery. This is shown when it says “Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for picking” and ”The red ones inked up and that hunger.” The “lust for picking” could show how lust is a form of sin because the speaker is picking the berries as a way to give himself pleasure, which shows selfishness. The negative diction also progresses throughout the poem. That negative diction shows the punishment towards the speaker. A specific kind of punishment would the prominent godly punishment. The “Thickened wine, summer’s blood” and “The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh” are two things that show that form of punishment. The “blood” and “flesh” show the punishment that the speaker was given upon due to trusting the berries as a way to make himself happy.

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Haney offers a strong evocative tone to the poem to effectively describe the boys’ act of blackberry picking. What’s important to consider is how with each detail the speaker elects to mention in the poem comes an emotional connection to the action itself. For example, lines such as “our hands were peppered with thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's” were intentionally mentioned by the speaker because he found joy in the adventurous and even messy aspects of blackberry picking memorable enough to recite. Not only that, but his reflective tone goes on to evoke a sense of disappointment as it pertains to the lower points of blackberry picking. Considering the fact that he uses language such as,”I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair” and “Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not,” one can reasonably seduce that he finds importance in noting even the unfavorable emotional ties that made his blackberry picking experience memorable. Taken together, all of these lines reveal the evolution of emotions that resulted from the start of blackberry picking to the end, that ran its course cyclically in the life of the speaker. With that being said, Haney’s use of a strong evocative tone for the speaker effectively puts the entire emotional experience of blackberry picking into the audience’s perspective.

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The author uses the motif of berries to depict the fleeting nature of life. The berries are described as having "a rat-grey fungus". It juxtaposes the original depiction of the berries as sweet and ripe. The rotten berries slowly spread to the other berries as everything around them decays. We see how quickly the tone changes from a beautiful harvest to a disappointing cache of berries. The effect of fleeting nature can be seen in the emotions of the speaker. "I always felt like crying," was a clear point towards the decay of nature and the connection humans have to it.

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Heaney uses a combination of oxymorons and word usage to convey a deeper understanding of the underlying themes of sin and punishment present in the poem. When talking about the fermentation of the fruit, the poet states that its ‘sweet flesh would turn sour’. This use of an oxymoron emphasizes the figurative meaning behind this of how a sin, i.e. picking the blueberry, initially seems to give rewards, but there is always a punishment followed by it. The poet’s choice in words also conveys that the boy’s actions were a sin and their punishment was the rotting of the berries. When describing how the boys were able to collect the berries, words such as, “Scratched… bleached… blood... sticky and gutting”  almost make it seem as if the boys are committing a crime. To further this thought, Heaney uses references to both the Bible and a famous French fable. Heaney compares the boys to Bluebeard, a man known for the murder of his wives. He also follows the story of Adam and Eve; upon picking the apple, they were punished for committing a sin. Once the boys have collected all the berries, they find out that the berries have rotted and cannot be eaten anymore, which could be seen as a punishment for the sin they have made.

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Heaney displays the dangers of sin by exploring how sins are punished. In “Blackberry-Picking”, Heaney uses the process of blackberry-picking metaphorically to represent lust, or more specifically “lust for/Picking”. This shows the sin of those who pick the blackberries being committed. Additionally, the “sweet flesh” of the blackberries represents physical desire, another

sin. Overall, these metaphors present blackberry picking as a sin, resulting in “palms sticky as

Bluebeard’s”, or, essentially, hands of murder. Heaney shows hows this supposed sin is punished, as those who pick the blackberries have hands “peppered/With thorn pricks”. To add to that, they don’t ever get the thing they truly desire - ripened backberries. Instead, they end up with “a rat-grey fungus” and fermented fruit. Their ever-so desired “sweet flesh would turn sour”, and their craving never got relieved due to the sins which they committed. As a whole, this shows Heaney’s belief of sins always being punished in some way.

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Heaney conveys the figurative meaning of Blackberry Picking

by using metaphorical references

to his past experiences as a child picking blackberries. In the third line, Heaney describes fresh

blackberries, how they are a “glossy purple clot” and how they are as “hard as a knot.” The fresh

blackberries refer to a youth when Heaney’s body was young, fresh, and ripe and still able to do and play as a child should. The author mentions how once the blackberries were plucked off of

the bush, the “sweet flesh would turn sour.” With age, a person would get tired and “rotten” no longer with ripe skin but with wrinkles and blemishes. Heaney end the poem by saying that “Each year I hope they’d keep, knew they would not.” Every person hopes to stay young,

energetic, but immortality isn’t a reality and people will age and rot just like a blackberry.

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Heaney uses a combination of oxymorons and word usage to convey a deeper understanding of the underlying themes of sin and punishment present in the poem. When talking about the fermentation of the fruit, the poet states that its ‘sweet flesh would turn sour’. This use of an oxymoron emphasizes the figurative meaning behind this of how a sin, i.e. picking the blueberry, initially seems to give rewards, but there is always a punishment followed by it. The poet’s choice in words also conveys that the boy’s actions were a sin and their punishment was the rotting of the berries. When describing how the boys were able to collect the berries, words such as, “Scratched... bleached... blood... sticky and gutting”  almost make it

seem as if the boys are committing a crime. To further this thought, Heaney uses references to both the Bible and a famous French fable. Heaney compares the boys to Bluebeard, a man known for the murder of his wives. He also follows the story of Adam and Eve; upon picking the apple, they were punished for committing a sin. Once the boys have collected all the berries, they find out that the berries have rotted and cannot be eaten anymore, which could be seen as a punishment for the sin they have made.

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Heaney conveys the figurative meaning of the dangers of sin through a shift that juxtaposes the pleasure of sins and its consequences. In “Blackberry-Picking” the beginning of the poem, which describes the joy of picking fresh blackberries and the pleasure of summer, is juxtaposed to the ending which describes the consequences and dangers of sin. The fleeting pleasure of the moment is contrasted harshly to the utter disappointment of the consequences of greed. The craving the speaker has to relive their joy in the simple pleasure of blackberry picking, causes them to suffer the frustration they relived each year. Similarly, Heaney uses a

vivid imagery with strong connotations to convey the figurative meaning of the dangers of sin. Heaney works in these examples of vivid imagery such as “its flesh was sweet” and “leaving

stains upon  the tongue and lust for picking” to convey the sinful nature of the speaker's actions. The imagery used creates the image of picking, the freedom and fresh air of summer, coupled with fresh blackberries, as rich as wine. Heaney also uses imagery such as “ a rate-grey fungus” and “all the lovely candles smell of rot” to convey the consequences of sin. The complete opposite connotation is depicted to explain the nature of sins, and how the pleasure in the

moment is outweighed by the consequences. The figurative meaning of the dangers of sin are

expressed throughout the poem, hidden behind the literal actions of blackberry picking.

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Heaney conveys figurative meaning of the fleeting nature of life through the use of metaphors, tone, and diction to depict death. Heaney described the fermented fruit as having “sweet flesh” that would turn sour. Heaney’s use of human anatomy to describe the blackberries adds to the theme of death in the poem as he compared the fermented fruit to decaying human flesh. “Each year I hoped they’d keep, knew they would not”, regardless of the fact that the berries are picked every year with great optimism, the end result is always the same, sort of like life itself, humans live and die and there nothing the world can do about that fact. In the poem, diction shows the fleeting nature of life, specifically through line 19: “a rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache”. The diction used, a rat-grey fungus, helps describe how life is slowly leaving the blackberries as they rot.

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The poem creates a message about the fleeting nature of life through the short-lived journey of the Blackberries. The poem starts off with the picking of the Blackberries where the speaker examines them with yearning eyes. The speaker uses words such as “glossy and thick” to describe these desirable Blackberries. The diction of the wholesome and beautiful fruit contrast to the grim, “rat-grey fungus” that causes the blackberries to die, effectively creating a comparison between the birth and death of nature- all too quickly. The author further uses imagery and symbolism, such as nature scenes and blood, to give the poem sentiment and soul. Attached to that, the author combines imagery with rhyme to complete his intention towards this text.In the beginning of the poem we see an example of “rain & sun” which is not only intensive nature but also juxtaposition, that in this case it’s giving the narration a sense of tension and struggle. Throughout the text, it can be seen that the Rhyme, is not only simple, but it has a very plain rhyme scheme. This contributes to give the poem meaning, because (going back to the imagery), nature it’s suppose to be simple, just like the rhyme, but we tend to do it (or describe it) more complicated than it really is, and that happens with pretty much everything in life. The quick melody and abruptness of the poem additionally contributes to this “fleeting” nature. The entire situation of the blackberries being

picked is a representation for the short amount of time life really is. While the poem does additionally link the sudden death of the blackberries to the greed of the blackberry pickers, the theme of heaven-just-within-grasp-before-being-ripped-away is just as prominent and significant. The poem conveys the theme that life is sacred and surprising; life can be given and taken away at any point.

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Throughout the beginning of the poem the tone can be described as admirarional. While also being descriptive of the nature surrounding the blackberries. However, by the end when the

blackberries are being described as dying as they reach the end of their life cycle, not many references to nature are being made by the author. At one point the melody of the verses is very fast especially at the point where it says fleeting as describing the blackberries as not being able to last forever. Yet another thing that was present throughout was the singular line that was easily recognizable. Most of the imagery used, if not all, was that of color being used to describe

the different phases through which the blackberries were going through. For example, in the

beginning purple is used to describe the life that the berries had while by the end in death they

are stated as being “dark blond”. As they were deprived of all color that they once had in their fruit.

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Heaney conveys the connection between sin and punishment through the use of imagery and negative diction. The poem transitions from lust to gultney in the form of imagery. This is shown when it says “Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for picking” and ”The red ones inked up and that hunger.” The “lust for picking” could show how lust is a form of sin because the speaker is picking the berries as a way to give himself pleasure, which shows selfishness. The negative diction also progresses throughout the poem. That negative diction shows the punishment towards the speaker. A specific kind of punishment would the prominent godly punishment. The “Thickened wine, summer’s blood” and “The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh” are two things that show that form of punishment. The “blood” and “flesh” show the punishment that the speaker was given upon due to trusting the berries as a way to make himself happy.

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Haney offers a strong evocative tone to the poem to effectively describe the boys’ act of blackberry picking. What’s important to consider is how with each detail the speaker elects to mention in the poem comes an emotional connection to the action itself. For example, lines such as “our hands were peppered with thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's” were intentionally mentioned by the speaker because he found joy in the adventurous and even messy aspects of blackberry picking memorable enough to recite. Not only that, but his reflective tone goes on to evoke a sense of disappointment as it pertains to the lower points of blackberry picking. Considering the fact that he uses language such as,”I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair” and “Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not,” one can reasonably seduce that he finds importance in noting even the unfavorable emotional ties that made his blackberry picking experience memorable. Taken together, all of these lines reveal the evolution of emotions that resulted from the start of blackberry picking to the end, that ran its course cyclically in the life of the speaker. With that being said, Haney’s use of a strong evocative tone for the speaker effectively puts the entire emotional experience of blackberry picking into the audience’s perspective.

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The author uses the motif of berries to depict the fleeting nature of life. The berries are described as having "a rat-grey fungus". It juxtaposes the original depiction of the berries as sweet and ripe. The rotten berries slowly spread to the other berries as everything around them decays. We see how quickly the tone changes from a beautiful harvest to a disappointing cache of berries. The effect of fleeting nature can be seen in the emotions of the speaker. "I always felt like crying," was a clear point towards the decay of nature and the connection humans have to it.

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Heaney uses a combination of oxymorons and word usage to convey a deeper understanding of the underlying themes of sin and punishment present in the poem. When talking about the fermentation of the fruit, the poet states that its ‘sweet flesh would turn sour’. This use of an oxymoron emphasizes the figurative meaning behind this of how a sin, i.e. picking the blueberry, initially seems to give rewards, but there is always a punishment followed by it. The poet’s choice in words also conveys that the boy’s actions were a sin and their punishment was the rotting of the berries. When describing how the boys were able to collect the berries, words such as, “Scratched… bleached… blood... sticky and gutting”  almost make it seem as if the boys are committing a crime. To further this thought, Heaney uses references to both the Bible and a famous French fable. Heaney compares the boys to Bluebeard, a man known for the murder of his wives. He also follows the story of Adam and Eve; upon picking the apple, they were punished for committing a sin. Once the boys have collected all the berries, they find out that the berries have rotted and cannot be eaten anymore, which could be seen as a punishment for the sin they have made.

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Throughout the poem, Blackberry-Picking, Heaney creates literal meaning through the relationship between natural and human imagery, positive and negative emotion, and the use of color. The blackberries are described using human imagery like flesh, blood, and body parts throughout the poem. The mixture of natural and human imagery helps liken the boys’ lust for the berries to the physical desire that humans have for one another, since both take on a ravenous ferocity. Throughout the poem, words with negative connotations like “blood” or “bleached” are used to describe the boys’ lust. At the end of the poem, these negative statements are melded with the positive hopes of the boys. The comparison between the positivity and negativity helps

reveal the relationship between the boy’s expectations and reality. The negativity also displays the repercussions of overindulgence that doesn’t fully reveal itself until the final third of the poem. Additionally, colors are used to display the variety of nature and the enticing nature of the fruits. The colors help give a sense of exoticness to the setting of the story which is meant to be enticing to the boys. Color use is seen at the beginning of the poem when the boys first eat the berries and describe them as purple, red, and green.

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In the poem, Blackberry Picking, Heaney creates literal meaning through the use of contrasting diction, and metaphors within the poem. Heaney’s uses contrasting vocabulary to describe the blackberries in nature. From illustrating spring / summer, the contrast in positive and negative vocabulary helps to show the state of the berries over the progression of the story. The presence of transition and taking the reader through a journey illustrates how the blackberries progress from fresh, ripe fruit into inedible. Supported by subtle shifts in vocabulary, this helps set the tone of loss--as well as letting the reader dread the inevitable fate of the berries. Heaney uses metaphors, like those referring to the fresh blackberries, by saying “the blackberries would ripen”, and “leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for”. The imagery for blackberries in the poem helps the reader visualize the lust and greediness of the boys by consistently describing the fruit as desirable and unavoidable and proceeding to showcase the way in which the boys strive to obtain as much as the fruit as they can. The continuation of metaphors when referring to flesh show and help develop Heaney’s ideas. He says “you ate that first one and its flesh was sweet”. One can infer that this sweetness would lead to wanting more, greed. Also, by saying “the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour” shows change over time, depreciating in importance and value.

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The author of “Blackberry Picking” by Seamus Heaney utilizes negative diction and metaphors to convey the figurative meanings of sin and punishment throughout the text. In Lines 19 through 21 the author describes a rat grey fungus that was “glutting on our cache...the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.” The use of the words “glutting” and

“fermented” have a negative connotation, indicating consequences due to potential actions. Furthermore, in Line 22 the speaker explains that “I always felt like crying. It wasn’t fair.” This

also can convey the figurative meaning of punishment throughout the poem as the negative diction can provide underlying meaning to a more in depth concept not explicitly stated, in this case, punishment and sin. Metaphors are also a very useful tool used by Heaney to convey figurative meaning throughout the text. In Line 17 the author states “we hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.” This is a metaphor indicating a glutton for lust and love, possibly referring to the sin that develops with this greediness as well. Already mentioned, Line 21 reads “The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour.” This is another example of a metaphor indicating that as time goes on, physical desire will dissipate and fade away. The desire mentioned could also be a reference to a sin and is developed through the countless metaphors in the text. The figurative meanings of punishment and sin exuberate past the literal meaning of the words on

the page and manifests itself with dark, negative diction and embedded metaphors.

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To convey the figurative meaning of the evanescence of life, Heaney uses deep language

and intense imagery to portray the beginning and end of life. In the beginning of the poem, the

author uses words like “glossy purple clot” and “flesh was sweet” to indicate the beauty of nature

and life among the first stages of a ripened blackberry. The purity and sweetness of the

blackberries in their early lives shows the innocence in their small bodies. They give off

happiness and clarity, bringing the characters in the poem to serenity. However, at the end of the

poem this is shifted

the imagery gets rather dark, using words such as “rat-grey fungus” and “sweet flesh would turn sour.” The author does this to portray that at the end of a blackberry’s

life, it quickly becomes rotten and useless, just like how fast one’s life can be regarded as inefficacious. Something that was once beautiful, rapidly turned rotten and distasteful. This is a epiphany for life: something that was once exquisite in life, becomes sour and ruined. The author also uses consonance at the end of multiple lines, such as using words like “drills...full” and “covered...burned.” This harsh sound on the end of each line foreshadows the idea of life and nature becoming difficult and rotten.  Overall, the use of intense imagery, strong language, and harsh consonance conveys the discrepancy of the nature of life by indicating that all beautiful

things grow to become rotten.

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In Heaney’s poem, there is a prevalent theme of the fleeting nature of life, highlighted through the poet’s use of vivid imagery to depict shifts. For example, Heaney describes the “glossy purple clot” of the blackberries at the start of the poem (line 5) but shifts to the fermentation of the fruit and how “the sweet flesh would turn sour” (line 21) towards the end. These color descriptions are symbolic of the sweet innocence of youth, whereas the latter represents death and decay pertaining to mortality and life. Another shift in the poem occurs when Heaney states how they “...hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.” (line 17) only to soon find “a rat grey fungus glutting on our cache.” (line 19). By describing the berries as fresh, the poet emphasizes how life is so short, seeming as if it has only just begun when it is abruptly taken away from us when we least expect it.

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Through the use of diction and nature imagery, Heaney depicts the literal meaning of the poem

“Blackberry- Picking”. For example the poem states, “Late August, given heavy rain and sun”. The use of the word “heavy” depicts the negative, almost sad tone of the poem. This is also exemplified toward the end of the poem. “Each year I hoped they’d keep [alive], knew they would not”. This quote depicts the dying of the fruits and this is associated with the sad tone of the poem. The negative tone is again described in regards to picking the Blackberries. “Big dark

blobs [Blackberries] burned like a plate of eyes”. The word “burned” gives an ominous feeling to the poem along with the death at the end. The clear negative feeling associated with Blackberries is given in a literal meaning through the use of diction and nature imagery.