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Poetic Devices—Figurative Language |
| Resources Poetry Alive: Reflections Larry Liffiton and John McAllister (ed.) Format: book Canadian Writer's Companion Luengo, Anthony Format: book Completing this lesson will help you to:
You have learned about the use of imagery and symbolism, poetic devices that help make poems more interesting and meaningful for their readers. In this lesson you will look at figurative language, another device poets can use to vividly express their ideas.
Figurative Language When you want to explain something to another person, it often helps to compare the new thing to something that the person is familiar with. This is basically what poets do when they use figurative language. The difference is that a poet is likely to use surprising combinations that make the reader see familiar things in new ways. Figurative language (sometimes called metaphorical language) uses images that cannot be taken literally, i.e., abstract ideas. However, this technique usually works best when the comparisons are based on accurate and realistic details. Your text, Canadian Writer's Companion, p. 107-108, summarizes the most common types of figurative language. Read the definitions of metaphor, simile, personification, and hyperbole, then carry on with the lesson, which will further explain the ideas presented in your text.
Metaphor A metaphor is an implicit comparison between two unlike things that have a common likeness. By using a metaphor, the poet generally suggests that one thing is another thing. It is a comparison that is suggested or implied rather than stated. Metaphors are often used in slang. For example, "He's a nut" and "She's an angel" are metaphors. The poet needs a great number of metaphors, because if ideas are expressed literally, most of the imaginative appeal is lost. Remember that one of the reasons for writing poetry rather than prose is it generally allows the writer more scope for imagination. Metaphors are never absolutely true. For example, when we say, "That little boy is a devil," we know that we are only making a comparison.
Example
In "Letter to My Mother" the narrator describes the actions of the boy they have been teasing:
By referring to the children who are doing the teasing as "jays," the poet wants you to see them as birds that will attack in groups. The boy who is being teased is called a "rodent," and, by extension, his house becomes a "nest."
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Simile A simile is an explicit comparison between two things that are not the same, but which have a certain similarity that the poet wishes to point out. A simile uses the word like or as to make the comparison. For example, in "Coaster-Waggon on Indian Grove," the narrator compares the way he is feeling to the wobbling and spinning of a top:
The phrase "like a top" compares the whirling world to the motion of a spinning top. Your clue that this is a simile and not a metaphor is the word like. Here are some more examples of similes:
To be effective, similes must not be too far-fetched, neither must they be too obvious. Saying that "the world is as round as a ball" is as weak as "You are sweet as sugar." Similes that are too commonly used, such as "hair like spun gold," "cold as ice," "black as coal," "fatter than a pig," and so on are called cliches. In your writing, avoid cliches and aim for fresh, original images. Comparative examples of similes and metaphors:
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Personification Personification is a type of metaphor. Personification gives human parts or qualities to an inanimate (lifeless) object or abstract idea. It lends vitality to poetry and permits the poet to give emotions to inanimate objects. In the following examples of personification, the words that give
The rain obviously does not have hands and day cannot stand on its tiptoe, but using personification creates more vivid images and gives the rain and the day character and personality.
Hyperbole Hyperbole is a figure of speech based on exaggeration. It can be an effective method to attract attention, emphasize a point, or create an effect. For example, when your teacher says, "I've told you a million times to put your name on your assignments," you have not really been told a million times. But the exaggeration is much more effective at portraying the teacher's frustration than if he or she actually counted the number of times you had been told and said, "I have told you seventeen times to put your name on your assignments." |
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Instructions Identify the devices or figures of speech in the following quotations. There may be more than one device in a quotation, but you are only
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