The Singing Lesson: Imagery 1 key example

Imagery extends beyond sight, engaging other senses as well. The Singing Lesson begins with a strong example of sensorial imagery:  "With despair—cold, sharp despair—buried deep in her heart like a wicked knife, Miss Meadows...trod the cold corridors that led to the music hall." The sentence uses "cold" twice, as it exists both within and around Miss Meadows. As readers are immersed in this bitter environment, they begin to feel and understand Miss Meadows's grief. Later, Miss Meadows speaks to her students in a "voice of ice," engaging with imagery on an aural level and showing that she is practically united with the coldness of the weather. She also makes her students sing a winter-themed song, featuring the woeful lines, "Ah, too Fast Fade the Ro-o-ses of Pleasure; Soon Autumn yields unto Wi-i-nter Drear.”  

However, after Miss Meadows receives Basil's telegram restoring their engagement, she experiences world in a wholly different way. Upon returning to her class, Miss Meadows picks up Mary Beazley's yellow chrysanthemum—whose bloom and bright color invoke a sense of warmth—and instructs the girls to sing a summer-themed song to reflect her newly joyous mood. She even tells her students that the tune "'ought to sound warm, joyful, eager'"—adjectives that directly contrast the story's previous, grievous descriptions. Thus, it is through imagery that Mansfield charts out Miss Meadows's emotions, and particularly her swing from one extreme to the other.