Metaphor and Simile in Poetry

Metaphor and Simile are very important figures of speech in poetry. Without them, it is not possible for poetry to be what it really is: the art of painting with words.

The oxford concise dictionary defines figure of speech as a recognized form of rhetorical expression giving variety, force, etc., esp. metaphor or hyperbole.

So these two figures of speech in question – metaphor and simile – give colour, life and other intriguing effects to the language of poetry. Metaphor and simile are, in essence, comparison words. They compare two different things.

Let us start with Simile:

Simile

Similes are the simplest figure of speech. They deploy words such as ”like” and “as” to highlight similarities in two different things that are being compared.

Apart from poetry, you will find similes being used in everyday language. For example, you and your brother are rushing to school. You are late. Your brother is several feet ahead of you. Try as you may, you cannot keep up with his swift pace. In a burst of anger, your brother turns and blurts out:

“Hurry up! You are as slow as a slug!”

Other figures of speech that you hear everyday are:

As fit as a fiddle.

As deaf as a door post

As blind as a bat

As cool as a cucumber

As quiet as a church Mouse

I am sure you remember learning these similes at school.

Most of these similes, nonetheless, are now clichés, whose aptness can be questioned. Is a bat really blind? Therefore, Limit your use of them in poetry.

Ever read the bible? You will find some intriguing similes and metaphors there too. For example, at Psalm Chapter 1:1-3, the bible compares a man who reads God’s word regularly to a tree planted by streams of water. It says:

And he will certainly become like a tree planted by streams of water,That gives its own fruit in its seasonAnd the foliage of which does not wither,And everything he does will succeed.

The words in bold above are a good example of simile.

In poetry similes are used more forcefully to create vivid mental images in the mind of the reader, and they are usually more complex.

Here is an example form Shakespeare’s poem Venus and Adonis:

Even as the sun with purple-colour'd face

Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn,

Rose-cheek'd Adonis hied him to the chase;

Hunting he loved, but love he laugh'd to scorn;

Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him,

And like a bold-faced suitor 'gins to woo him.

But sometimes, the simile is more of implied than explicitly stated. For example, in the poem “ My Love Delusion” by LJ Kundananji, instead of simple stating that I shed tears like the tree sheds it’s leaves, he says:

The tree sheds tears, its leaves.

Prepared for a new beginning

And once again it is beaming.

Once my delusion proved false, my love lost, no trace;

Shed tears, an avalanche too

Dried they, before they grew

And none them saw.

Metaphor

The Metaphor also is used to highlight a similarity between two different things. However, metaphors do not make use of the comparing words “ like ” or “ has”. In fact, the metaphor is more forceful than the simile and equates one thing to the other.

This being the case, the metaphor is used more abundantly to create vivid pictures in the minds of readers; and it is also used to evoke a wide variety of emotions.

Shakespeare makes very good use of it in his poems and sonnets. For example, in sonnet 116, he compares love to a fixed unchanging star. He says:

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

He does not say that it is like a star , rather, he says, It is the star. He thus equates it to the star that guides men on dark nights as they plough through the oceans in their ships.

Here is another example form sonnet 130:

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

In this poem, he states that his mistress breasts are dun and that her hairs are wires.

Hmm. What picture do these avid comparisons create in your head?

See how forcefully these metaphoric expressions create vivid mental images?

And as with similes, metaphors can also be more implied than stated. For example, in the poem, “Fated Love ” by LJ Kundananji, he compares the love he has for someone to a child. He says:

Teasing, innately teasing, is my love for you.

Our interactions, association gave birth to this;

This child we both desire, yet is amiss,

Keeps us bonded in a fated bond.

Instead of directly stating that their love is like a child, he implies this by saying “our interactions, associations gave birth to this/this child we both desire, yet is amiss”

“This” refers to the love between them. Implied metaphors are often used to have an emotional and surprising effect on the readers. For example, the above poem, in its concluding lines, says:

Upon meeting, you enfolded me like you need me more;

My heart is sick, I desire you don’t depart.

In the darkness of day for your hand I grasp

But you’re gone and I know our child is dead—

Our love….

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