Studying journeys has broadened my understanding of journeys as different composers convey several aspects of imaginative journeys. Specifically, this is done through poetic, visual and cinematic techniques. A prominent notion in Coleridge’s “This Lime Tree Bower My Prison”, Shaun Tan’s “The Red Tree” and David Fincher’s “Fight Club” is that imaginative journeys may transcend physical barriers and allow elusion of reality. They also convey the personal, universal and natural enlightenment that is achieved as a result of this imaginative process, which is similarly explored in Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”.
Coleridge’s poem, “This Lime Tree Bower My Prison” conveys how the imagination can provide an escape which catalyses the possibility of embarking on a journey through which self-clarity and pantheistic appreciation may be attained. The depressingly exaggerated petulant tone of reality –“This lime tree bower my prison. I have lost Beauties” – contrasts the later optimistic tone – “delight turns sudden” – when the persona surrenders to his imagination. This hyperbolic contrasting tone illustrates how the imaginative process can enhance situations through the escape of reality. The alliteration of dark images “dark green file of long lank woods” juxtaposes the varying punctuation and bright visual and sensory imagery, “purple heat flowers” and “glorious sun!” This emphasises the reverence that both composer and persona gain for nature leaded to contented mental clarity. The symbolic “last rook”, representative of natural harmony, is combined with the rook imagined to “fly creaking o’er head” of Charles to acknowledge nature as an omnipotent presence that intricately unifies the physically separated companions. This poem expands the responder’s understanding of journeys as it conveys how nature and situations are comprehended through transcendent imaginative journeys.
Similarly, Tan’s picture book “The Red Tree”, imaginatively captivates the...