Kedarnath Singh: A Poet of Imagery (केदारनाथ सिंह: बिंब विधान के कवि)

Abstract

The term bimb is the Hindi translation of the English word image. Bimb-vyavastha (the system of imagery) is a significant concept in Hindi literature, through which poets express emotions and ideas by employing vivid and suggestive images. The use of imagery renders poetry more appealing and engaging. In the West, it emerged as a poetic movement initiated by the English poet T. E. Hulme, and this new concept of Imagism later influenced poets such as Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington in England and America, who adopted and propagated its principles in the early twentieth century. The use of imagery, however, has existed in literature since its very inception. Unlike symbols, images are sensuous—they appeal directly to the senses and are experienced through perception. Hence, in literature, we encounter not only visual images but also auditory, olfactory, and tactile ones, which together enrich the aesthetic and emotional texture of poetry.