Abstract This paper investigates the continuity and transformation of metaphysical poetics from the seventeenth century to the present, with a focus on the epistemological function of imagery in English-language poetry. Beginning with the metaphysical conceits of John Donne, it traces how poetic images have served not merely as aesthetic ornaments, but as instruments of cognitive and philosophical exploration. The study argues that contemporary poets such as Jorie Graham, Anne Carson, and Louise Glück extend and reconfigure this metaphysical legacy, employing imagistic structures as modes of thought that interrogate perception, emotion, and abstraction. Anchored in theories of metaphor and cognition (Lakoff and Johnson), phenomenology and poetics of perception (Merleau-Ponty, Scarry), and literary-critical traditions (Brooks, Vendler), this paper argues that 'thinking in images' is a transhistorical poetic practice in which metaphor functions as a form of philosophical cognition. Through close readings, it uncovers the metaphysical echoes resonating in contemporary poetic discourse, highlighting the enduring role of the image as a site where sensory experience, intellectual inquiry, and poetic form intersect.
إسماعيل, محمد. (2025). Thinking in Images: Metaphysical Echoes in Contemporary Poetics. مجلة الألسن للغات والعلوم الإنسانية, 7(19), 216-236. doi: 10.21608/maks.2025.381177.1084
MLA
محمد إسماعيل. "Thinking in Images: Metaphysical Echoes in Contemporary Poetics", مجلة الألسن للغات والعلوم الإنسانية, 7, 19, 2025, 216-236. doi: 10.21608/maks.2025.381177.1084
HARVARD
إسماعيل, محمد. (2025). 'Thinking in Images: Metaphysical Echoes in Contemporary Poetics', مجلة الألسن للغات والعلوم الإنسانية, 7(19), pp. 216-236. doi: 10.21608/maks.2025.381177.1084
VANCOUVER
إسماعيل, محمد. Thinking in Images: Metaphysical Echoes in Contemporary Poetics. مجلة الألسن للغات والعلوم الإنسانية, 2025; 7(19): 216-236. doi: 10.21608/maks.2025.381177.1084