(I) Poetry affects us in two different ways. (II) First, it speaks directly to our senses through its music and rhythm, which we actually hear when it is read aloud. (III) Accordingly, the poet uses a special literary technique. (IV) But indirectly, poetry speaks to our senses through imagery. (V) It most often does this by creating a mental picture, or an “image” that we see not in the world around us, but in our mind.