Poetic imagery is one of the surface-level formal elements in poetry that often maintains an inseparable connection with its deep structure, thought, and meaning. Just as language is linked to the mind and reflects mental processes, imagery mirrors the poet’s inner world. Through poetic images, one can discern the poet’s thoughts, ideas, emotional states, and psychological landscape. When these images stem from poetic individuality, the connection becomes even more profound.
This study explores the relationship between imagery, meaning, and emotion in the poetry of Bijan Jalali, a contemporary Iranian poet. Jalali’s poems clearly reveal his mental world, feelings, and emotional nuances. Given the autobiographical nature of his poetry and his own assertion that he practiced “automatic writing,” the bond between image, meaning, and emotion in his work is notably deep.
Using a descriptive-analytical method, this research investigates the interplay between mind and image in Jalali’s poetry. The findings illuminate the close relationship between emotion, meaning, and poetic imagery in his work, and highlight the recurring themes of despair, hopelessness, disappointment, sorrow, absurdity, and futility