Metaphors, Part 1

[hooks_and_books]

For some, the metaphor (a large title with includes not only traditional metaphor, but also simile and juxtaposition), is one of the defining qualities of poetry. Indeed, if one accuses or champions a prose writer or being "poetic," one of the first things they look at is the use of metaphor

Comments

[ajodasso]

I have so many favorites, so I think that the best I can do is give you the one I'm currently hung up on:

It's this whole damned song. You can both read the lyrics and listen to the track at that link.

How does it work? For me, it takes the entire phoenix myth, which one might argue is entirely overused and/or overdone these days, and somehow completely transforms it within the context of personal suffering, isolation, and transformation. This song - this album, in fact - bought me a couple of weeks of sanity, even though I'm now in a bit of a desperate backslide. I'd like to believe that something better is waiting for me on the other side of this slow, protracted proverbial death I'm experiencing. I'd like to believe that it's as the song says: time and agony eventually lead to rebirth. I want to believe it. I can't tell you how.

[gows]

I'll give an example that makes me seethe in jealousy every time I hear it:

"The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar."

Soooo much imagery from that album makes my toes curl.

Another favorite? "Fat Charlie the archangel sloped into the room."