". . . little shall I grace my cause

In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience,

I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver . . ."

(William Shakespeare's Othello, I.iii.88-90)

Monday, April 13, 2015

National Poetry Month, Day 8

Let's be a metaphor detective today. Read the following short poems and see if you can figure out what the metaphor, or implied comparison, is. What is being compared in each poem?


"Good Night" - Victor Hugo

Good night! Good night!
Far flies the light;
But still God's love
Shall flame above,
Making all bright.
Good night! Good night!


"April Rain Song" - Langston Hughes

Let the rain kiss you.
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk.
The rain makes running pools in the gutter.
The rain plays a little sleep-song on our roof at night.

I love the rain.


"Dandelion" - Hilda Conkling

O little soldier with the golden helmet,
What are you guarding on my lawn?
You with your green gun
And your yellow beard,
Why do you stand so stiff?
There is only the grass to fight!


"Skyscrapers" - Rachel Field

Do skyscrapers ever grow tired
Of holding themselves up high?
Do they ever shiver on frosty nights
With their tops against the sky?
Do they feel lonely sometimes
Because they have grown so tall?
Do they ever wish they could like right down
And never get up at all?


"The Horses of the Sea" - Christina Rossetti

The horses of the sea
Rear a foaming crest,
But the horses of the land
Serve us the best.

The horses of the land
Munch corn and clover,
While the foaming sea-horses
Toss and turn over.


If some of the words in the next poem are a little difficult to understand, look them up in a dictionary or ask for help understanding the ones you don't know.

"There is No Frigate Like a Book" - Emily Dickinson

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul! 



There is a special type of metaphor known as personification. When you use personification you give human characteristics to things that aren't human in order to describe them more vividly. Are any of the metaphors in the poems above examples of personification?




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