Metaphor Part 1

MetaphorDefinition:

A metaphor is a figure of speech where a ord or phrase is used to suggest a likeness or analogy between two different things. Metaphor is not something only writers use we use them all the time they are embedded in our language usage.In everyday speech, studies suggest we use approximately one metaphor every 10 to 25 words or about six metaphors a minute.

Here’s a more detailed explanation: Frequency:Research indicates that metaphors are quite common in everyday conversation. Examples: Even seemingly simple phrases like “deliver a lecture” can contain metaphors. Thus ‘deliver a lecture’ suggests teaching is a process of transferring knowledge or information from the teacher to the student, similar to delivering a package or a message. Which is a metaphor.

Types: While there are many types of metaphors, direct and implied metaphors are more common in everyday language than sustained metaphors. On the surface, metaphors might seem pretty simple but metaphor gains traction from how different the two things are. So they’re actually more about contrast than similarity or comparison. But they have to do both these things simultaneously in order to have impact.If you say “ a lily is a flower” it’s a fact it doesn’t have a spark it doesn’t make us stop and think.

If you say the “sepia tones of his voice” then you are creating an image to ponder.Here you are combining colour with sound and a colour associated with old photographs.Can you picture the sound of a voice that has sepia tones?

If you say “ carnivorous pencil” you are pairing a meat eating predator with a writing instrument. “carnivorous pencil” suggests a writing instrument that is not only destructive but also devours or consumes something, like a predator. It implies a powerful, potentially damaging, or even malevolent force at work through the act of writing.

At its simplest in a metaphor we are saying one thing is another.

Direct metaphors

x is y – fear is a shadow

The y of x – the shadow of fear

x’s y – fears shadow

Examples of Direct Metaphors

“Juliet is the sun” William Shakespeare.

x. y

The moon is a balloon.

x. y

Grief a wall she couldn’t climb.

x. y

We use many metaphors every day in normal conversation and many are therefore commonplace, so as writers we are looking for new exciting examples to spice our writing.

Some commonplace examples:

( We would probably call them cliches)

Time is a thief.

The icing on the cake.

Give you my heart.

To find and use unique comparisons that’s the poet’s work. To create the possibility that these two things that seem to be dissimilar, actually have something in common. When we find unique comparisons this is where a lot of the ideas of the poem can come from, making that point believable. It is preferable as a poet to look for metaphors that have a tangible if unique association it’s not about just pulling two remote objects together without thought as your reader may never unravel your metaphor or simile.

Let’s look at a few Metaphors poets have used in poetry.

Pablo Neruda was a master of metaphor for example:“the stars, blue, shiver in the distance.” The shivering stars are a metaphor for a distant love.

Love as Fire:In “If You Forget Me,” Neruda writes, “In me all that fire is repeated, in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,” comparing his love to a flame that won’t be extinguished.

Cicada’s Song as a Saw:In “Ode to Enchanted Light,” Neruda describes the cicada’s song as “sawing” into the air, conveying a sense of rough or bittersweet change.

Tomato as a Sun:In “Ode to Tomatoes,” Neruda compares a tomato to a sun, both in its warmth and profound nature.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes frequently used metaphors in his poetry, like in “Dreams” where he compares life without dreams to a “broken-winged bird” and a “barren field frozen with snow,”

“Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.”—In Mother to Son, Langston Hughes (the entire poem is an example of an extended metaphor)

Metaphor Examples from Music

“Life is a highway / I wanna ride it all night long”—Tom Cochrane

“Baby you’re a firework!”—Katy Perry, Ester Dean, Stargate, Sandy Vee

Metaphors can be simple as the x = y example but we can create many more complex metaphor types. For example In “If You Forget Me,” Neruda writes, “In me all that fire is repeated, in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,” comparing his love to a flame that won’t be extinguished.

We will explore how we write inspirational Metaphors in future posts.

What is your take on writing metaphors?

Would you like to share your favourite metaphors in the comments?