Beowulf

Bri Beowulf Imagery Beowulf is an intense and suspenseful epic poem and what makes it worth reading is the use of imagery. What would the world be like without imagery? Imagery is used in everything read today. Books, magazines, even the backs of movie cases. The world of reading would be different without imagery. And Burton Raffel made sure that Beowulf was full of said imagery, especially during the first, second, and third climaxes of the poem. In Beowulf, the imagery for the first climax is full of surprise, violence and suspense.The suspense starts when Grendel snatches up the first Geat he sees and tears him apart. Imagery is used to intensify Grendel’s actions by tenfold. For example, “Grendel snatched at the first Geat/ he came to, ripped him apart, cut/ his body to bits with powerful jaws,/ drank his blood from his veins and bolted/ him down, hands and feet/ (line 739, page 46). Without that gruesome and violent imagery, Grendel would seem meek and boring. But that only begins the suspense and violence of the first climax.