Emotion in Poetry: Using Metaphor and Simile
Poetry needs emotion, but we need to create emotion with words,
the creation which is called imagery. To enhance the emotion of
any writing, we can use poetic devices. Using metaphors or
similies is one way to strengthen (intensify, vigorize
expression, support, vitalize, justify, stimulate,
enhance)emotion.
A metaphor is the comparison of two unlike things by saying one
is the other. An eample would be "love is honey poured over
life." Love is not honey, but the comparison creates a mental
image of sweetness added to life.
A simile is the comparison of two unlike things by saying one is
like or as the other: "Love is like honey poured over life."
Metaphors and similes are very like in what they do in writing.
Both compare unlike things.
Remember the nursery rhyme, author unknown:
Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder what you are Up above
the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky.
Comparing the star to a diamond is a simile. But that comparison
doesn't show about emotion, right?
So, let's think of an emotion. Shame is an emotion that most
people have felt one time or another. Now, to what can we
compare shame?
Shame is like a dirty, smoothering blanket that clouds our
sight. Shame is a monster that steals our self-worth. Shame
makes us feel tarnished, unworthy, like a statue that has sat in
the rain until worn and dull. Shame wraps us in gray, obscuring
us from others' love. That gives us a start for a poem that
includes the emotion shame and some ideas for metaphors or
similes.
Shame by Vivian Gilbert Zabel
I stand nude before the world, My faults and shortcomings
Exposed for all to see. Like a tacky, tattered blanket, A cloud
of despair smothers me. Layers of gray with streaks Of blinding
black press me To the ground, a broken statue, Tarnished by
relentless rain And worn by whimpering wind.
I cannot lift my head to watch In case others turn from me,
Disdain displayed in their eyes. Shame turns confidence into
Disgust for myself, burning Like a fire without warmth, Only a
chill leaving no comfort. How can anyone love me When I remain
disgraced in life By being who and what I am?
The preceding poem has two similes and one metaphor. The one
simile states that a cloud of despair, like a tacky, tattered
blanket, smothers the narrator. The other says that disgust
burns like a fire without warmth. The metaphor compares the
narrator to a broken statue. All help strengthen the emotion in
the poem, enhancing the feeling of shame. Alliteration is also
used: tacky, tattered; blinding black; relentless rain; worn,
whimpering, wind; disdain displayed.
Hopefully we can improve our poetry and add to the emotion and
imagery by using metaphor or simile or both. Let's try
practicing the use of these in our writing to see how we can
create more power in our poems.