Metaphor

Using metaphors in poetry has many different purposes. Metaphors can be used to discover the unknown by using the known. It can be used as a figure of speech where we refer to something resembling it to something else. For example, a really slow person can be compared to a turtle. Another way we can also use metaphor is "the man next door is a pig." The man next door isn't really a pig, the metaphor is showing how the guy is dirty and disgusting like a pig and there for he is being compared to a pig.

Simile is an easier way to understand metaphor except for in simile we use "like or as" and in metaphor we don't. Simile compares two things more clearly and obviously than metaphor. For example "her eyes are as bright as the sun" or "her eyes look like the stars." The girls eyes aren't really brighter than the sun, because we wouldn't be able to look into her eyes. The simile is showing us how beautiful her eyes are and so does the other metaphor. 

Metaphor has a lot of different ways to present itself in poetry. One of the best ways to show how metaphor works is by using sustained metaphor. Sustained metaphor constantly runs through out the whole poem with metaphors, which is easier to identify. 

To study metaphor we we will be using the poem "Play."

Play

Random raindrops

on the window pane.

 

Touch them with your finger tip -

but there's the barrier of glass.

 

You know that if you wanted

to become involved

you should be on

the other side.

What the author is trying to indicate with this poem is that the only reason we're missing out on the fun or what's going on outside is because we choose to. The author is basically putting out there, he isn't really making us guess what he's trying to say by comparing the glass to someone or something else that has nothing to do with it. A metaphor doesn't necessarily always make us read between the lines.

Another poem is "Creativity"

Creativity
 On the wall,

there is a shadow

of a branch outside.

 

It moves and it is dancing.

 

It writes its story

and the ink

is living light. 

In this poem metaphor is being used in a different way than the other poem "Play." In "Creativity" the author uses 2 metaphors in the poem, one of them is "there is a shadow of a branch outside.  It moves and it is dancing." It's impossible for a tree to dance unless it was human. What the author is trying to say is that it's really windy and its moving the branch in all directions. The 2nd metaphor is "It writes its story and the ink is living light." the story the author is referring to is the shadow that the tree is creating and the movements are making the shadow show us the tree is moving.

Other ways to show metaphor is by using Personification, Anthropomorphism, Hyperbole, Parable, Fable, and Analogy. Personification Is the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form. For example she did not realize that opportunity was knocking at her door. This means that the girl had a chance to take right in front of her eyes and did not notice.Another example for personification is this poem "Nature's Chorus" 

Nature's Chorus
Willows bend to their partners
while the spruces curtsy in response.
Cherry trees form a circle
and the oaks dance just like debutantes
of woodpeckers tapping on their trunks
and squirrels chattering in the boughs.
Listen to the sounds of nature's chorus
What fun it does arouse!

This poem shows how nature is full of life by describing the surroundings of the animals and the non-living things with human like qualities, which may give the reader an idea or a better image of how graceful is nature.

Anthropomorphism Is the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object. For example the plants do listen to me when I talk to them. What this is letting us know is just because the no body is talking back to us, someone or something is listening. Hyperbole Is exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. For example "It was so cold, I saw polar bears wearing jackets". It is impossible for a polar bear to wear a jacket because it's cold, polar bears are animals that are meant for the cold and there for lives in the north pole. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. Fable is a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral. For example the story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" it tells us a story where it teaches us a lesson about how lying is bad. Analogy Is a comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification. For example up is to down as in hot is to cold, It explains the how two things can be opposite to each other.

Metaphor's can be used in may different other ways, like in this poem



l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness
e e cummings


In this poem, everything is all confusing but what it is showing is how leafs fall and wind up alone until they all fall to the ground. Poems don't always have to look like poems to make sense, its until we learn how to interpret any type metaphor is when we'll know what the author is saying. In other words metaphor doesn't always have to be shown in poetry, it can be used in everyday life, symbols, pictures, etc. In this picture called "" simile is being interpret in many ways. One of the ways is where the elephant's trunk is being compared to a empty pipeline used in a everyday life.

I believe metaphors are used everyday when we talk. We can say the most nonsense thing and it'll make sense because we are used to metaphors and how they can be used. Many songs, pictures, signs, conversations have metaphor and its so easy and simple I wont even notice until someone points it out. Or maybe when we're watching a movie where the author doesn't want to be too direct with his story. Metaphors is just another way to be indirect and secretive at the same time if we don't someone knowing how we're really feeling.