Metaphor

Definition

"A figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another. The basic figure in poetry. " (J. A. Cuddon)

Simile x Metaphor

Metaphor "implies comparison between two unlike entities", simile, on the other hand, is "an explicit comparison signalled by the words like or as" ("Metaphor").

Examples

The Raven

" “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—
“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!—quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”
Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.” " (E. A. Poe)

Here, the metaphor means something along the lines of "stop torturing me", but the author used a metaphor to make it seem more desperate and poetic.

Hamlet

In this example, we can see a double metaphor, first, Hamlet compares his suffering to "slings and arrows", then in the next verse, he describes it as "a sea of troubles", possibly to make them feel more physical.

Here, you can watch a video of Andrew Scott reciting the famous monologue I chose to cite as an example.

"To be, or not to be? That is the question—
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?" (W. Shakespeare)

Metaphors

"I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off. " (S. Plath)

Each verse of this poem is a metaphor, but all of them mean the same thing: being pregnant.

Caged Bird

"A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom. " (M. Angelou)

This poem is an example of an extended metaphor, meaning "a metaphor that is developed in great detail. The amount of detail can vary from that of a sentence or a paragraph, to encompassing an entire work. In an extended metaphor, the author takes a single metaphor and employs it at length, using various subjects, images, ideas and situations" ("Extended Metaphor: Definition and Examples").
In this case, the author used the metaphors of a free and caged bird to show how her life is made difficult by racism and oppression.

Here, you can watch Maya Angelou recite another one of her poems, I'm a Rainbow in Sombody's Cloud.

Works Cited

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Virago, 2015.

Cuddon, J. A., et al. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Penguin Books, 2014.

“Extended Metaphor: Definition and Examples.” Literary Terms, 5 Nov. 2018, literaryterms.net/extended-metaphor/.

“Maya Angelou: I’m a Rainbow in Somebody’s Cloud.” YouTube, YouTube, 31 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOe9ygczcMA&ab_channel=Children%27sDefenseFund.

“Metaphor.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 15 Sept. 2023, www.britannica.com/art/metaphor.

Plath, Sylvia, and Ted Hughes. The Collected Poems. HarperPerennial Modern Classics, 2018.

Poe, Edgar Allan, and Ryan Price. The Raven. Kids Can, 2015.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Tribun EU, 2007.

“To Be or Not to Be - Hamlet (Andrew Scott Full Soliloquy).” YouTube, YouTube, 31 Dec. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6CLdCl9TB0&ab_channel=MoeezAslam.

Author of the page: Rey Valtoš

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