Description of the empty world
The narrator describes the empty world as, ‘Now it ripples, now it murmurs, ripples, it still sighs, still hums and it is empty under the sky. Here follow the first words, the eloquence. There is not yet one person, one animal, bird, fish, crab, tree, rock, hollow, canyon, meadow, forest. Only the sky alone is there; the face of the earth is not clear. Only the sea alone is pooled under all the sky; there is nothing whatever gathered together. It is at rest; not a single thing stirs. It is held back, kept at rest under the sky. Whatever there is that might be is simply not there: only the pooled water, only the calm sea, only it alone is pooled. Whatever might be is simply not there: only murmurs, ripples, in the dark, in the night.’
The narrator has achieved imagery in the description of the empty earth by appealing to the senses of sight and sound. The narrator describes the sounds in the earth as ripples, murmurs and sighs and the sight by telling the reader that there was no living being in the earth at the time.
The first mold of man
The creators of man tried several times to create man that would worship and praise them. Their first creation was disappointing and is described as, ‘So then comes the building and working with earth and mud. They made a body, but it didn't look good to them. It was just separating, just crumbling, just loosening, just softening, just disintegrating, and just dissolving. Its head wouldn't turn, either. Its face was just lopsided, its face was just twisted. It couldn't look around. It talked at first, but senselessly. It was quickly dissolving in the water.’
Visual imagery has been used to show how lacking the first man was. The narrator describes how the body was crumbling and disintegrating in a way that creates a mental picture in the mind of the reader.
The second mold of man
The creators of man tried again a second time to create man that would worship and praise them. The people are described as, ‘And so they fell, just an experiment and just a cutout for humankind. They were talking at first but their faces were dry. They were not yet developed in the legs and arms. They had no blood, no lymph. They had no sweat, no fat. Their complexions were dry, their faces were crusty. They flailed their legs and arms; their bodies were deformed.’
The narrator has achieved visual imagery in the description of the men. Various characteristics such as their dry faces, their underdeveloped legs are described in detail that a mental image of their likeness is created in the mind of the reader.
Seven Macaw
Seven Macaw described himself as, ‘…because my eyes are of metal. My teeth just glitter with jewels, and turquoise as well; they stand out blue with stones like the face of the sky. And this nose of mine shines white into the distance like the moon. Since my nest is metal, it lights up the face of the earth. When I come forth before my nest, I am like the sun and moon for those who are born in the light, begotten in the light.’
Seven achieved imagery in the description by using metaphors and similes. He uses metaphor to describe his eyes by saying that, ‘my eyes are of metal’. The simile used is, ‘blue with stones like the face of the sky’
