Figurative Language Assignment
Figurative Language Assignment
Personification:
“This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;”
Personification is the attribution of human qualities to an inanimate object, animal, or idea. In this excerpt from William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much with Us,” the sea is being personified and gendered as a female. She cannot actually show her heart or chest because the sea is only water and waves. Likewise, the moon cannot perceive or notice her doing so. These are objects and ideas, romanticized and personified to add flavor to the poem.
Simile:
“…pile wort that shone like stars of gold in the sun,”
Similes use the words like or as to make a comparison between two things. In the “Grasmere Journals” of Dorthy Wordsworth, the highlighted relationship is between the pilewort flowers and golden stars. She says that the patch of yellow blossoms shines in the sunlight beside the road like the stars shine in the sky at night. They arouse wonder and joy in those who look upon them.
Metaphor:
“I know the sound the wind made
When through the boughs it was flying:
Let no one tell me I’m lying,
There is no song as well played.”
A metaphor is a comparison made without using the words like or as. In this example from the Cuban Poet José Martí’s “Simple Verses,” the comparison is between the sound of the wind and a song. He is saying that the wind in the trees reminds him of a beautiful song; the most beautiful. Nature is the pioneer musician, creating and inspiring ourselves.
Personification:
“This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;”
Personification is the attribution of human qualities to an inanimate object, animal, or idea. In this excerpt from William Wordsworth’s “The World Is Too Much with Us,” the sea is being personified and gendered as a female. She cannot actually show her heart or chest because the sea is only water and waves. Likewise, the moon cannot perceive or notice her doing so. These are objects and ideas, romanticized and personified to add flavor to the poem.
Simile:
“…pile wort that shone like stars of gold in the sun,”
Similes use the words like or as to make a comparison between two things. In the “Grasmere Journals” of Dorthy Wordsworth, the highlighted relationship is between the pilewort flowers and golden stars. She says that the patch of yellow blossoms shines in the sunlight beside the road like the stars shine in the sky at night. They arouse wonder and joy in those who look upon them.
Metaphor:
“I know the sound the wind made
When through the boughs it was flying:
Let no one tell me I’m lying,
There is no song as well played.”
A metaphor is a comparison made without using the words like or as. In this example from the Cuban Poet José Martí’s “Simple Verses,” the comparison is between the sound of the wind and a song. He is saying that the wind in the trees reminds him of a beautiful song; the most beautiful. Nature is the pioneer musician, creating and inspiring ourselves.