In the story "The Pit and the Pendulum," how does Poe use imagery in the first paragraph?

Imagery refers to descriptions that appeal to the five senses. In the first paragraph of "The Pit and the Pendulum," Poe uses auditory, visual, and tactile imagery.

Auditory imagery includes the description of the inquisitors' voices which become a "dreamy indeterminate hum" and later the silence during which the narrator "shuddered because no sound succeeded" from their lips as they pronounce his name.

Visual imagery includes the descriptions of the "lips of the black-robed judges," the drapes in the room, the tall burning candles, and the blackness and darkness when he faints.

Tactile imagery, which can refer to temperature, texture, or movement, includes the moving of the drapes, the horrible nausea, and the feeling that shoots through his body "as if I had touched the wire of a galvanic battery." As he faints, all sensation leaves him and is replaced by a feeling of stillness. 

Authors use imagery to help the reader feel as if he or she is part of the scene, and in this paragraph Poe enables the reader to hear, see, and feel the things that the narrator experienced through his detailed descriptions.