Verbal Imagery: Gateway to a Profound Understanding of Death
The Lord has chosen the verbal depiction of death because it is through words that man is given the opportunity to synthesize and experience a deep understanding of this inevitable fate on his own. The narrative does not prescribe a ready-made, externally formed image; instead, it encourages the inner work of imagination and reflection, which can make the perception of this transition more multifaceted and personally enriching. In other words, the word enables an individual, by means of active internal experience and synthesis of ideas, to penetrate more deeply into the essence of the phenomenon of death rather than merely observing an external manifestation that might be less expressive and not conducive to such profound contemplation.
The difficulty in creating an image lies exactly in this. Direct perception of an object is valuable precisely because it facilitates the synthesis of material. It is all about that synthesis. On the other hand, due to the dominant role of synthesis in perception, a description of an object can sometimes be more vivid than the image itself. For example, Gogol’s depiction of the Dnieper is arguably more striking than the impression given by the river itself. Similarly, the way in which various facets of a large city are described can provide a greater understanding than a personal examination, during which much may be overlooked. Consequently, the assertion that perception is always stronger than an image is not accurate; the point is that the synthesis of material is more easily achieved through direct perception than when a verbal description is provided. Yet, synthesis can also be achieved by other means – namely, through a 'laborious process.' (source: link txt)