Elements of Poetry: Sound Devices

8th Grade English/Language Arts – Poetry Unit: Sound Devices - Blume

2 AlliterationThe repetition of initial consonant sounds, in two or more neighboring words or

syllables.The wild and wooly walrus waits and wonders when we will walk by.Slowly, silently, now
the moonWalks the night in her silver shoon;This way, and that, she peers, and seesSilver fruit upon
silver trees…-- from Silver by Walter de la MareHow much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a
woodchuck could chuck wood? (almost ALL tongue twisters!)

3 “Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would
be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the
perfume of flowers…”- from “Three Days to See” by Helen KellerAlliteration examples

4 Assonance A repetition of vowel sounds within words or syllables.

This one is usually NOT on the CST Test, but why not know it?!A repetition of vowel sounds within
words or syllables.Fleet feet sweep by sleeping geese.Free and easy.Make the grade.The stony
walls enclosed the holy space.

5 “I made my way to the lake.”

Assonance examplesPoetry is old, ancient, goes back far.It is among the oldest of living things.So
old it is that no man knows how and why the first poems came.--Carl Sandburg, Early Moon“…on a
proud round cloud in white high night…”- E. E. Cummings“I made my way to the lake.”

6 ConsonanceThe repetition of consonant sounds, NOT at the beginning of words but within words,
before and after different vowelsEX: slip-slop, creak-croak, black-block

7 Consonance Example"At midnight, in the month of June, I stand beneath the mystic moon. An
opiate vapor, dewy, dim, Exhales from out her golden rim, And, softly dripping, drop by drop, Upon
the quiet mountain top, Steals drowsily and musically Into the universal valley." Edgar Allen Poe,
The Sleeper

8 Rhythm and MeterRhythm is the sound pattern created by stressed and unstressed syllables.The
pattern can be regular or random.Meter is the regular patterns of stresses found in many poems and
songs..Rhythm is often combined with rhyme, alliteration, and other poetic devices to add a musical
quality to the writing.

9 Rhythm and Meter continued…

Example:I think that I shall never seea poem lovely as a tree.The purple words/syllables are
“stressed”, and they have a regular pattern, so this poetic line has “meter”.

10 Rhyme The repetition of end sounds in words

End rhymes appear at the end of two or more lines of poetry.Internal rhymes appear within a single
line of poetry.Ring around the rosies,A pocket full of posies,Abednego was meek and mild; he softly
spoke, he sweetly smiled.He never called his playmates names, and he was good in running games;

11 This may seem confusing, but it isn’t. Really!

Rhyme SchemeThe pattern of end rhymes (of lines) in a poem.Letters are used to identify a poem’s
rhyme scheme (a.k.a rhyme pattern).The letter a is placed after the first line and all lines that rhyme
with the first line.The letter b identifies the next line ending with a new sound, and all lines that rhyme
with it.Letters continue to be assigned in sequence to lines containing new ending sounds.a.k.a =
“also known as”This may seem confusing, but it isn’t. Really!

12 Rhyme Scheme continued…

What is the rhyme scheme of this stanza?Whose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the
village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.From Stopping
by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

13 Did you get it right? aaba

Whose woods these are I think I know. aHis house is in the village though; aHe will not see me
stopping here bTo watch his woods fill up with snow a

14 Cacophony and EuphonyCacophony is the clashing of sounds for a harsh toneEuphony is

produced when sounds flow together smoothly, like rhyme, creating a gentler tone, perhaps
whimsical

15 Examples of Cacophony and Euphony

“Dry clashed his harness in the icy caves And barren chasms, and all to left and right The bare black
cluff clanged round him, as he based His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang Sharp-smitten with
the dint of armed heels— And on a sudden, lo! the level lake, And the long glories of the winter
moon.” Tennyson’s Morte D’Arthur“As when upon a tranced summer night Those green-robed
senators of mighty woods Tall oaks, branch-charmed by the earnest stars Dream, and so dream all
night without a stir.” Keats’ Hyperion

16 SibilanceAlliteration with a soft consonant that creates a hissing (sibilant) sound, such as s, sh,
z, th, f, and soft c.EX: Suffering through The soiled night Sinking into the sand As salty tears stream
Down sad faces Sniffling sickly While still searching For something that Is out of sight

17 and...

18 OnomatopoeiaReview...Onomatopoeia is also considered a “poetic sound device”.Words that

sound like their meaning --- the “sound” they describe.buzz… hiss… roar… meow… woof…
rumble… howl… snap… zip… zap… blip… whack … crack… crash… flutter… flap… squeak…
whirr.. pow… plop… crunch… splash… jingle… rattle… clickety-clack… bam!
 What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.
Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.
END STOPPED LINE
Definition of End Stopped Line
An end stopped line is a line in verse which ends with punctuation, either to
show the completion of a phrase or sentence. End stopped lines occur in
poetry when a syntactic unit is contained in one line and the meaning does
not continue on to the next line. This is the opposite of enjambment, which
refers to lines carrying on their meaning to the following line or lines. You can
also tell that a line is end-stopped because when reading these types of lines
you’ll naturally pause before moving on to the next line, however briefly.

Common Examples of End Stopped Line

The definition of end stopped line is generally only used when discussing
poetry, as it is necessary to differentiate between end stopped lines and
enjambed lines. However, it is clear that most song lyrics and popular poems
also display end stopped lines, as each line naturally completes a small unit of
meaning. Here are some popular songs and poems with examples of end
stopped lines:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night,

Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

(“Blackbird” by The Beatles)

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
(“Star Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key)

This little piggy went to market,

This little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none,
And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home.

(“This Little Piggy,” popular nursery rhyme)

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Significance of End Stopped Line in Literature

Poets and dramatists make very intentional choices about whether to end
their lines either in the middle or at the end of a syntactical unit. The choice
to either write an end stopped line or an enjambed line affects the reading
experience in that the mind interprets information differently when it is
grouped in different ways. In general, end stopped lines were the norm in
poetry for many millennia until writers began to experiment with different
ways of breaking up syntactical units. For example, the majority of William
Shakespeare’s earlier works contain only end stopped line examples while
later in his life he used much more enjambment. However, there are still
some older examples of enjambment and plenty of contemporary examples of
end stopped lines. Poets who want to use a strict rhyme scheme may
gravitate toward end stopped lines because the combination of end rhyme
and the completion of syntactical units works well together. Poets working
in free verse may be less likely to write with end stopped lines.

Examples of End Stopped Line in Literature

Example #1
So Grendel waged his lonely war,
Inflicting constant cruelties on the people,
Atrocious hurt. He took over Heorot,
Haunted the glittering hall after dark,
But the throne itself, the treasure-seat,
He was kept from approaching; he was the Lord’s outcast.

(Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney)

The Old English epic of Beowulf contains many enjambed lines, perhaps
surprising for a text that is so old. Yet in the time of Anglo Saxon poetry there
were other factors that determined the aesthetics of a line, mostly having to
do with consonance and assonance and imagery. This is an example of end
stopped lines, however, that comes near the beginning of the poem. In this
case, the end stopped lines are very powerful and seem to mimic both the
brute strength with which Grendel attacks the humans as well as his isolation.
Example #2
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

(“Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare)

In general, William Shakespeare’s sonnets all contain end stopped lines. This
is because Shakespeare was working in strict meter (iambic pentameter) as
well as a strict rhyme scheme, as befits the sonnet form. Each line contains a
complete thought. In this short excerpt from “Sonnet 18,” we can see
Shakespeare ask a full question in the first line and give a complete, if
succinct, answer in the second line.
Example #3
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

(“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers -” by Emily Dickinson)

Emily Dickinson often used interesting punctuation in her poetry, favoring
dashes where other writers might have chosen commas, periods, or no
punctuation at all. The first stanza of her poem “‘Hope’ is the thing with
feathers -” contains four lines that all end with dashes, thus signaling that
each one is an example of an end stopped line. Without Dickinson’s
punctuation here the reader might have been tempted to treat the lines as
running from one into the next.
Example #4
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

(“The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe)

Edgar Allen Poe used many examples of end stopped lines in his poetry,
especially his famous poem “The Raven.” This poem contains strict rhyme
scheme and each long line contains a complete idea. This poem has very long
lines, generally written in trochaic octameter, and thus there is enough room
in each line for Poe to fully explore a complete thought.

Example #5
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

(“Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman)

Thought Walt Whitman used no rhyme in his very long poem “Song of
Myself,” almost every single line in the poem ends with a comma or period.
Thus, almost every line of the poem is an example of end stopped line. The
above excerpt comprises the first stanza of the poem. We can see that
Whitman wrote lines that fit his thoughts rather than choosing a meter or
length of line and cramming his ideas into that structure.

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Test Your Knowledge of End Stopped Line

1. Which of the following statements is the best end stopped line definition?
A. A line in which the syntactical unit corresponds to the length of the line.
B. A syntactical unit which carries on for the length of a stanza.
C. The final line in a stanza or poem.

Answer to Question #1 Show

2. Which of the following excerpts from Beowulf contains only end stopped lines?
A.

So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by

And the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.
We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns.

B.

There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,

A wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.
This terror of the hall-troops had come far.

C.

In the end each clan on the outlying coasts

Beyond the whale-road had to yield to him
And begin to pay tribute. That was one good king.

Answer to Question #2 Show

3. Which of the following Romeo quotes from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
contains only examples of end stopped lines?
A.

Well, in that hit you miss. She’ll not be hit

With Cupid’s arrow. She hath Dian’s wit,
And, in strong proof of chastity well armed,
From love’s weak childish bow she lives unharmed.

B.

When the devout religion of mine eye

Maintains such falsehood, then turn tears to fire;
And these who, often drowned, could never die,
Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars.

C.

Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs;

Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;
Being vexed a sea nourish’d with loving tears:
What is it else? a madness most discreet,
A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.

Answer to Question #3
ENJAMBMENT
Definition of Enjambment
Enjambment is a term used in poetry to refer to lines that end without
punctuation and without completing a sentence or clause. When a poet uses
enjambment, he or she continues a sentence beyond the end of the line into
a subsequent line or lines. Enjambment is also sometimes thought of as the
running on of a thought beyond a line or stanza without a syntactical break.
This is the opposite of an end stopped line, in which a line ends in the same
place a sentence or clause ends with terminal punctuation.
The word enjambment comes from the 18th-century French word for “to stride
over” or “encroach.” And, indeed, as we can see from the definition of
enjambment, a poetic image or phrase straddles more than one line before it
comes to a syntactic break.

Common Examples of Enjambment

While enjambment is used more or less solely within the confines of
discussing poetry, it can be applied to analyzing speech patterns as well.
Consider the way humans say sentences naturally—we often pause in the
middle of ideas or phrases, whether to emphasize a particular word or
thought, to pivot toward a different conversational direction, or simply to
consider what to say next.

There is a popular children’s clapping game that makes use of enjambment

called “Miss Susie.” Each stanza of the rhyme seems to end in a bad word,
but through enjambment is converted to an innocent one. Here are the first
few stanzas:

Miss Susie had a steamboat,

the steamboat had a bell.
Miss Susie went to heaven
and the steamboat went to Hell–
O, operator,
Please give me number nine
And if you disconnect me
I’ll kick your be–

’hind the ’frigerator,

there was a piece of glass
Miss Susie sat upon it
and broke her little…

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Significance of Enjambment in Literature

Enjambment may seem like it belongs more to the era of free verse than the
stricter poetic forms that were popular up until the twentieth century.
However, it has been an important poetic device for many hundreds of years.
Note that it is primarily a device used in poetry, yet lyrical playwrights such as
Shakespeare used enjambment in their soliloquys and dialogues. It is not a
term applied to prose, as the tension that enjambment creates is a
slight conflict between the syntactic unit of meaning and the unit of meaning
contained in a line. In prose there is no distinction between these two things,
as readers know that when they come to the end of a line due to the size of
the page they are supposed to continue onto the next line without any pause.

While it may seem like a poet can break a line wherever he or she pleases,
accomplished poets use enjambment very intentionally. Usually the line that is
created through enjambment holds it own meaning even though it is not a
complete syntactical thought. We will explore this further in the examples of
enjambment below. However, some novice readers of poetry mistakenly
believe they are supposed to come to a complete halt at the end of a line
even though there is no end punctuation. This is not the case—in poetry it’s
important to consider the line on its own but also as a part of the greater
whole.

Examples of Enjambment in Literature

Example #1
They stretched their beloved lord in his boat,
Laid out by the mast, amidships,
The great ring-giver. Far-fetched treasures
Were piled upon him, and precious gear.
I never heard before of a ship so well furbished
With battle tackle, bladed weapons
And coats of mail. The massed treasure
Was loaded on top of him: it would travel far
On out into the ocean’s sway.

(Beowulf as translated by Seamus Heaney)

Enjambment plays a large role in works all the way back to the Old English
epic Beowulf. This excerpt is interesting in the enjambment that results in
these two lines: “The great ring-giver. Far-fetched treasures…” and “And
coats of mail. The massed treasure….” In both of these lines we can see that
there is a syntactical break halfway through, and yet the line itself holds some
contextual continuity, as both the image of a “ring-giver” and “coats of mail”
easily blend with the references to “treasure.” The anonymous poet used
enjambment to allow the listener to make more connections between the
different syntactical units.
Example #2
HAMLET: To be, or not to be- that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die- to sleep-
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die- to sleep.
To sleep- perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub!
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.

(Hamlet by William Shakespeare)

In this excerpt, Shakespeare uses much more enjambment than end-stopped
lines, and keeps linking ideas from one line to the next. This propels
Hamlet’s soliloquy forward with a lot of momentum as he is considering the
question of the meaning of existence.
Example #3
I wanted to be sure to reach you;
though my ship was on the way it got caught
in some moorings. I am always tying up
and then deciding to depart. In storms and
at sunset, with the metallic coils of the tide
around my fathomless arms, I am unable
to understand the forms of my vanity
or I am hard alee with my Polish rudder
in my hand and the sun sinking. To
you I offer my hull and the tattered cordage
of my will. The terrible channels where
the wind drives me against the brown lips
of the reeds are not all behind me. Yet
I trust the sanity of my vessel; and
if it sinks, it may well be in answer
to the reasoning of the eternal voices,
the waves which have kept me from reaching you.

(“To the Harbormaster” by Frank O’Hara)

It’s clear that a poet is using a lot of enjambment examples when it’s difficult
to find a short excerpt. Here O’Hara’s poem is presented in full, as the only
fully end-stopped line is the very final one. As in the example from Hamlet this
use of enjambment propels the reader forward. When considered by
themselves, the lines present interesting juxtapositions, such as “in some
moorings. I am always tying up…” and “around my fathomless arms, I am
unable….” The enjambment of “yet / I trust the sanity of my vessel” helps to
give pause—the poet has been listing all the challenges of reaching his love,
but at the word “yet,” the poem pivots and offers a more hopeful conclusion.
Example #4
When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.
But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

(“Birches” by Robert Frost)

Just as in the example of enjambment from Frank O’Hara, we can analyze this
excerpt from Robert Frost’s “Birches” line by line. The first three lines
comprise one full sentence, yet by breaking them where Frost does they
make the reader pause and consider each line as a unit of content. For
example, “I like to think some boy’s been swinging them” can stand alone as
a thought. Later in this enjambment example we get the line “After a rain.
They click upon themselves…” which presents an interesting juxtaposition.
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Test Your Knowledge of Literature

1. Which of the following statements is the best enjambment definition?
A. The continuation of a thought from one line to the next.
B. Poetic lines that end with a semi-colon but not a period or question mark.
C. The type of line that free-verse poets use.

Answer to Question #1 Show

2. Which of the following types of literature does not use enjambment?

A. Poetry
B. Prose
C. Plays

Answer to Question #2 Show

3. Which of the following pairs of lines from Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”
contains an example of enjambment?
A.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

B.

We have to use a spell to make them balance:

“Stay where you are until our backs are turned!”

C.

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

Answer to Question #3
Tenor
Definition:
In a metaphor, the tenor is the subject. In other words, the tenor is what's getting
reimagined by the other part of the metaphor (the vehicle).
So, for example, in the sentence,
George Clooney is a total angel.
The tenor of this metaphor is "George Clooney," while the vehicle is "angel."
Here's another example:
I devoured the latest Hunger Games book.
The tenor of this metaphor is "reading" (a word not used here) and the vehicle is
"devoured." Sometimes, writers can get all tricky and use a tenor that's not actually in
the sentence, but the effect remains the same. In this case, reading is like eating—
devouring, to be exact.
Related Words: Metaphor, Vehicle, Figurative Language
Tags: General, Figurative Language
For example, when we talk about “grasping the idea of trigonometry” we don’t
mean that we physically hold the concept of trigonometry in our hands. That
would be both absurd and impossible. Instead, we are using the tactile
metaphor of holding something (the vehicle) to describe our relationship with
the idea of understanding trigonometry (the tenor).
 Literary Techniques: Metaphor
In this post, we explain what metaphors are, how they work, and how to discuss them in your
essays.

 Share


Welcome to our glossary of Literary Techniques METAPHOR post. This post gives a detailed
explanation of one of the many techniques you can find in our Glossary of Literary
Techniques for analysing written texts.

Below are some commonly asked questions about metaphor:

 What is the difference between a metaphor and what is a simile?

 How do I analyse texts for techniques like metaphor?
 How do I explain what a metaphor actually does?
In this post, we explain what metaphors are, how they represent meaning, and walk you through
a step-by-step process for writing about them in your responses.

Table of Contents
1. What is a Metaphor?
2. How does a Metaphor work?
3. How to Analyse a Metaphor – Step-by-Step
4. Metaphor Examples

Literary techniques: Metaphor

Metaphors are an important and effective means of representing ideas in a text. While metaphors
are common, they are difficult to develop and carry a lot of meaning. Metaphors are useful
techniques to discuss in essays where you analyse texts. Metaphors are widespread in society –
really powerful metaphors become so widespread in usage that fall into popular idiom (day-to-
day speech).
For example, when we see something expensive we say that it “costs an arm and a leg.” It
doesn’t really. Paying for expensive things with body parts would be a poor economic model in
the long term, but we understand that the expression means the cost is onerous. Most idioms
were once metaphors, but we hear them so often we take their ingenuity for granted.

Want to make analysing the metaphors in your texts easy?

Use the free textual analysis planner to develop your study notes and keep track of your possible
arguments.

What is a metaphor?
A metaphor is a literary technique where one thing is compared to another by stating they share
the same qualities.

Metaphors are different to similes.

Similes compare two things by likening them to one another. Similes rely on words such as
“like” or “as” to make the comparison. “Like” and “as” often work as prepositions. Remember,
a preposition is a word which relates nouns to one another. For example, in the sentence “the boy
was in the bath”, “In” tells us where the subject, “the boy,” is located in relation to the object,
“the bath” – he is “in” it.

Thus, when “like” or “as” are used the comparison is an explicit one. We are saying explicitly
that one object is similar to another.

In contrast, a metaphor is not suggesting something is like something else. Rather, a metaphor
states that the thing is something else.

For example, “life is like a journey” is a simile. So, too, is “live life as a journey.” However, “life
is a journey” is a metaphor, because it is saying one thing, “life”, is something else “a journey”.

How does a metaphor work?

A metaphor compares two objects in order to apply the attributes of one of the objects (in
metaphor theory, this is known as the ‘vehicle’) to the other (the ‘tenor’). This process allows the
speaker to say something innovative or useful about the tenor – the object that is described.

For example, in a metaphor when a poet compares love with a journey, she is suggesting that like
a journey, a relationship has its ups and downs, or that like a journey, all loves come to an end.
Consider the following flowchart:

Metaphor is one of the most fundamental figures of speech, and indeed aspects of language
itself. Many of our popular idioms, that is, our day-to-day expressions, rely on metaphor to
convey information.
For example, when we talk about “grasping the idea of trigonometry” we don’t mean that we
physically hold the concept of trigonometry in our hands. That would be both absurd and
impossible. Instead, we are using the tactile metaphor of holding something (the vehicle) to
describe our relationship with the idea of understanding trigonometry (the tenor).

Literary texts are typically dense in metaphor. In the cases of writers such as Shakespeare, it is
impossible to understand the text without constantly unpacking metaphors.

How to analyse a metaphor:

Metaphors are often easy to spot, but hard to describe. Sometimes a metaphor can be difficult to
spot, too. The best way to become adept at spotting a metaphors is to practice analysing them.

It is possible to be systematic in your approach to learning how to spot and analyse metaphors.
Let’s have a look at an overview for the step-by-step process used for identifying and analysing a
metaphor:

1. Ask yourself if the sentence or phrase compares two things

2. See if the sentence uses a word such as “as” or “like” as a preposition. That is, it is comparing things
explicitly. If it compares things without using prepositions such as “like” or “as” it is a metaphor.
3. See what the metaphor is comparing. Ask yourself:
1. What is the object being discussed (the tenor)?
2. What is the object being compared to (the vehicle)?
4. Ask yourself, “how does this develop meaning in the text?”
1. What are the qualities of the “vehicle”?
2. How do they change your perspective of the “tenor”?
3. What themes in the text does this comparison relate to?
5. Discuss your insights using a T.E.E.L structure. Remember, all metaphors should be able to be
described in the following way: ‘the composer combines love with a journey in order to suggest
that, like a journey, all loves come to an end.’
Now we have an overview of how to do identify and discuss a metaphor, let’s discuss how to do
it in detail. Then we can look at some practical examples and see how to discuss a metaphor.

Step 1: Read the sentence or phrase to see if it compares two objects

A metaphor implicitly compares a pair of things. Remember, this means they don’t use words
such as “as” or “like” to make a comparison between things.

Let’s have a look at an extract from the final act of Shakespeare’s The Tempest as an example:

PROSPERO: He[Caliban] is as disproportion’d in his manners

As in his shape. Go, sirrah, to my cell;
Take with you your companions; as you look
To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.

CALIBAN: Ay, that I will; and I’ll be wise hereafter

And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass
Was I, to take this drunkard for a god
And worship this dull fool! (5.1.xxx-xxx)

In the above example, there is a metaphor and a simile. Can you spot both of them?

1. He [Caliban] is as disproportion’d in his manners / As in his shape.

2. What a thrice-double ass / Was I, to take this drunkard for a god / And worship this dull fool!
Now we have spotted two objects being compared, we need to decide if the example is a
metaphor or a simile.
Step 2: See if the comparison relies on words such as “like” or “as”

When Prospero states that Caliban is “as disproportion’d in his manners as in his shape,” he is
explicitly comparing Caliban’s behaviour to his physical deformities (Caliban is described as a
misshapen man who appears to be part fish). The use of the word “as”, which works as a
preposition, signals that this is not a metaphor. Clearly this must be a simile.

When Caliban states “What a thrice-double ass was I, to take this drunkard for a god and worship
this dull fool,” he is comparing himself to an “ass” (a donkey) of great size (“thrice-double”). To
do this, he says he “was” an ass. This is using a verb to state he was something, not that he was
like something. This is a metaphor!

Now that we have determined that the phrase is a metaphor, we need to unpack it to see how it is
representing meaning.

Step 3: See what the metaphor is comparing

Clearly “What a thrice-double ass was I, to take this drunkard for a god and worship this dull
fool” is a metaphor. But what does it mean and how does it work? Let’s have a look.

In this metaphor:

1. The Vehicle is the “thrice-double ass”. And,

2. The Tenor is “I”, referring to Caliban.
This means the main object being compared is Caliban himself. Caliban [the tenor] is comparing
himself to a “thrice-doubled ass,” this is the vehicle. We understand this to mean that Caliban is
saying he is an “ass” for believing that somebody else (a character called Stephano) was a “god”.

Now we can see what is being compared and how, we need to figure out what meaning is being
represented.

Step 4: Unpack how meaning is being represented by the metaphor

We can understand the meaning of Caliban’s metaphor “What a thrice-double ass was I, to take
this drunkard for a god and worship this dull fool” by considering the qualities of the vehicle: “a
thrice-double ass”.

1. An ass is a donkey. Donkeys are stereotyped as being slow, stubborn, and dim-witted.
2. This vehicle is comparing Caliban to this animal and that he shares these qualities. Caliban is stating
that his actions were stupid and have made him look silly. This is a moment of personal insight and
awareness. We could say it is a discovery into his presumptuous nature.
3. Anagnorisis is a moment of personal insight or awakening. It is the moment in a text where a
character experiences a significant discovery about themselves or others. This metaphor depicts
Caliban making such a discovery – he was foolish. This coincides with the theme of personal
discovery within the text.
Now that we have identified the metaphor; unpacked it; and understood how it has developed
meaning, we need to discuss the metaphor in our writing. Let’s have a look at how to do this.

Step 5: Discuss your understanding of the metaphor using a T.E.E.L structure

It is not enough to present an example of a metaphor and identify the technique used in it as a
metaphor, we also need to explain how this metaphor develops meaning for the reader. This
means you need to use a T.E.E.L structure to explain what you perceive the metaphor to be
saying.

T.E.E.L stands for:

 Technique: The technique used in the example

 Example: The example
 Effect: Your explanation of the effect of this technique and how it develops meaning
 Link: An explanation of how this example supports your argument.
You can find a more detailed explanation of using T.E.E.L in our post on paragraph
structure (this post is part of our series on Essay Writing and shows you the methods Matrix
English students learn to write Band 6 essays in the Matrix Holiday and Term courses). Let’s use
this T.E.E.L structure to write about this example of a metaphor.

 The technique being used is metaphor.

 The example of the metaphor is “What a thrice-double ass was I, to take this drunkard for a god
and worship this dull fool”
 The effect of this metaphor is that Caliban presents himself as a fool by comparing himself to a
donkey.
 The link to our argument about discovery is that Caliban uses this metaphor to demonstrate that he
is having an insight into his own nature by realising he has made an error of judgement.
Let’s put this together into a complete piece of analysis about this metaphor:
Caliban uses the metaphor “What a thrice-double ass was I, to take this drunkard for a god and worship
this dull fool” to demonstrate his realisation that he has made a mistake. This statement marks a moment
of personal insight, also known as anagnorisis, where he realises that Stephano is just a drunkard and not
a god. Caliban is forced to reassess one of his earlier discoveries, and this changes his perspective on
himself. While he perceives himself as being a fool, such self-reflection also marks him as distinctly
human. Self-reflection and contrition are highly-esteemed humanist qualities.

Take a minute and read that a few times to understand how it works together.

Now we have gone through the step-by-step process of analysing a metaphor, let’s take a look at
a couple of examples of metaphors from different texts to see how we could write about them.

Metaphor examples
Metaphors are quite common. You will find metaphors in many texts set for study. This is
especially true of texts set for the HSC. HSC texts tend to be significant texts that are rich in the
use of literary techniques such as metaphor. So, to make sure you fully understand what
metaphors are and how they work, let’s have a look at two more examples. To help you learn to
write about metaphors, we have included a sample response for each example.

Example 1: Ted Hughes – Red

Let’s consider the second stanza of Ted Hughes’ Red:

When you had your way finally

Our room was red. A judgement chamber.
Shut casket for gems. The carpet of blood
Patterned with darkenings, congealments.
The curtains — ruby corduroy blood,
Sheer blood-falls from ceiling to floor.
The cushions the same. The same
Raw carmine along the window-seat.
A throbbing cell. Aztec altar — temple.

In this stanza, the persona describes their bedroom after their wife has painted it red. The persona
describes the red decoration of the room with imagery of blood. In the final sentence of the
stanza, the persona uses a metaphor “Aztec altar – temple” to describe the room. This is a
complex metaphor that has powerful connotations (that is, implied meanings).
Aztec altars were used ceremonially to cut out the hearts of sacrificial victims. Here, the persona
is using the metaphor of the Aztec altar as the vehicle to imply that the redecorated bedroom, the
tenor, was now a place where they had their metaphorical heart removed.

If we were to write about this use of a metaphor in an essay we would say that:

In Red, Ted Hughes’ uses the extended metaphor of an “Aztec altar – temple” to describe the
couple’s bedroom. The persona uses strong bloody imagery describing “The carpet of blood”, “the
curtains – ruby corduroy blood / sheer blood falls from ceiling to floor” to develop the description of
the couple’s bedroom as an altar. The Aztec’s used ceremonial altars to remove the hearts of
sacrificial victims. The connotation of this metaphor is that the persona’s wife redecorated the
bedroom, a site of intimacy, to better emotional torment or hurt him. Rather than a place of love, the
bedroom was a now a place where the persona has his heart cut out, again and again.

Example 2: TS Eliot – Preludes

Let’s consider the third part of TS Eliot’s Preludes:

You tossed a blanket from the bed,

You lay upon your back, and waited;

You dozed, and watched the night revealing

The thousand sordid images

Of which your soul was constituted;

They flickered against the ceiling.

In this stanza, the persona is describing the actions that an individual (presumably a reader from
the early 1920s) does in bed.

The persona uses an extended metaphor (a metaphor that runs over several lines) of a cinema
(the vehicle) – “watched the night revealing / The thousand sordid images / Of which your soul
was constituted; They flickered against the ceiling” – to describe the subject’s dreams (the
tenor). The persona is describing an individual’s moment of self-reflection and self-criticism
where they, in a light state of sleep, agonize over their past errors.

If we were to discuss this analysis of the metaphor in an essay we would say:

TS Eliot’s poetry is often concerned with the corruption brought about by modernity. In the third part
of Preludes, the persona describes how an individual “lay upon your back, and waited; / You dozed,
and watched the night revealing / The thousand sordid images / Of which your soul was constituted;
/ They flickered against the ceiling.” In this extended metaphor, sleep is described as an activity
where individuals represent on the “sordid” events of which their “soul is constituted” as if they were
in a cinema. This bleak imagery asserts that modernity corrupts individuals with the excess and
materialism it brings. The power of this metaphor is compounded by the use of the 2nd person
pronouns, “you” which place the audience inside this figure to relive their own anxious anxiety each
night.

Build your skills and familiarity further

Learn how to utilise and discuss metaphor in your Module C response! Get ready to smash
Module C with our 5 day HSC English Bootcamp! Learn more.
Written by Patrick Condliffe

Patrick has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons. 1st Class - Australian Literature) from USYD. His poetry, short
stories, and essays have been published online and in print and he regularly reviews film and other
media. Patrick is the editor of the popular Matrix blog and has been an English teacher at Matrix since
2012.

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