Do you see that sound?
I hear what you smell.
Can you taste what I’m touching?
Do you smell what I’m saying?
I smell your feelings.
SYNESTHESIA
• When two senses are blended to create beautiful,
interesting, original imagery in writing.
• What sense do you usually associate with heat?
Consider this…….
• “Can you hear the heat?”
• “Can you smell the heat?”
Begin with the 5 Senses:
• One of the most famous examples of
synesthesia in poetry comes from the French
poet Arthur Rimbaud, who wrote the poem
"Vowels" based on the idea that certain
vowels contain certain color associations:
Black A, white E, red I, green U, blue O—
Examples:
Nick Carraway, the narrator of
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great
Gatsby, recounts
"yellow cocktail
music" playing at one
of Gatsby's parties.
Example:
Annihilating all that's made
To a green thought in a green shade
"The Garden”
Example:
• "I catch the sound and it takes me into the
cold."
• (Emily Raboteau, The Professor's Daughter.
Henry Holt, 2005)
Example:
• "I am hearing the shape of the rain Take the
shape of the tent and believe it . . ..”
• (James Dickey, opening lines of "The
Mountain Tent")
WHAT IF ?????
Look at an image/noun/color and ask
yourself – “If this were a sound, what would
it sound like?” or “If it were a feeling, what
would it feel like?”
Let’s try!
What does it sound like?
What does it feel like?
What does it taste like?
What does it smell like?
What does it sound like?
What does it feel like?
What does it taste like?
What does it smell like?
What If?
• Notice a feeling or sensation– if you had to
paint it, what color/shape/size would it be? If
you had to play it on an instrument, how
would it sound? Don’t strain or try to think of
something clever – just notice what images,
sounds or feelings naturally come to mind
when you ask yourself the questions.
Let’s try it!
• Focus on the feeling. You choose:
• FEAR, ANGER, HOPE, MISERY, LONELINESS
• If you had to paint it, what color would it be?
What shape? If you had to play it on an
instrument, how would it sound?
• Listen to a piece of music and ask “If this
were a picture, what color would it be?” or
“If it were a person, how would s/he talk?
What would s/he say?”
“Dream On”
What colors do you see as you listen to
this song?
If you could touch this song, what would it feel like?
EXAMPLE:
• "I hear the bouncing hills”
Dylan Thomas