Poetry Terms

Figurative Language

Figurative Language—Metaphor

A Three Point Shot From AndromedaBy Paul Beatty

rain rusted orangering of saturnin urban orbit

over an outdoor gym

What two things are being compared?

Figurative Language—Simile

Example:“Of asphodel, that greeny flower,

like a buttercupupon its branching stem-”

William Carlos Williams, “Asphodel, that Greeny Flower”

Figurative Language—Hyperbole

Let’s come up with some hyperboles!

The StormJames K. McAlister

Wind rustled crunching leaves That on the sidewalk lay.

There was a big storm coming On a windy Autumn day.

Thunder rumbled overheadAnd shook me through and through. A jagged bolt of lightning struck!

The sky then cracked in two!

Rain washed down the dirty road.

It hissed, and gushed, and muttered. The downpour swept dead leaves away Into the bubbling gutter.

Figurative Language—Imagery

Example: Billy Collins, “Litany”“You are the bread and the knife,the crystal goblet and the wine.You are the dew on the morning grassand the burning wheel of the sun.You are the white apron of the baker,and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.”

Figurative Language—Allusion

Example: Dylan Thomas’s “Fern Hill”And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white

With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was allShining, it was Adam and maiden,

The sky gathered againAnd the sun grew round that very day.

Figurative Language—Symbol

Green Light and Gamma WaysBy Thylias Moss

Miss Liberty is green, the horizon and skyplus yellow skin.

She is a minority too, colorof ridiculous Martian fableand not a man.

Handicapped, disabled.Another immigrant.

Figurative Language—Personification

Autumn’s SeasonBy: Unknown Author

brushes her hair slowly Letting the glorious colors

flow gently to the earth below. Showing off vibrant colors

in contrast to summer's green dress. Out doing the starkness,

of winter's white coat. Autumn compares the mutable

shades of spring to her fall Giving a sigh ,end of another season. She packs her brush

as frost touches her tips.