At the same time, a describer must use language that helps folks see vividly—and even see beyond what's readily apparent. The great novelist and humorist Jonathan Swift knew that “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” Those elephants aren’t really there but it may be that suggesting them helps people imagine the height of the Washington Monument. As Mark Twain so elegantly chided: “You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”