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Hello guys, this Björn hosting the bar tonight.
One of my favorite tools of poetry is metaphor. The word has its origin in the Greek word μεταφορά (metaphorá), “transfer” and came to English through latin.
In the dictionary metaphor means a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance.
The metaphor as a literary device is very much related to the simile, where the author use the figure of speech as a comparison rather than a direct image. The simile is more like a carbon copy than the original in my view.
A metaphor also has a relative in cliches and idioms. These are metaphors that have turned so used so the element of surprise you can expect from a good metaphor. Many of these have originally been good metaphors.
Today I want you to:
- Avoid similes, do not use the words “like” or “as”
- Avoid cliches and idioms
- The metaphor should be well-known and detailed
If you still want to use these you can still spice them up by for instance making them more exact, or adding complexity to the image.
For instance Pablo Neruda use a salt rose instead of a rose, and “arrow of carnations” in his famous Sonnet XVII (yes I know that it’s a simile, but still the imagery goes way beyond any normal flowery language).
Another example of excellent metaphors is Tomas Tranströmer in his poem After a Death uses many metaphors to describe mourning. A snowy TV-picture, the drop of water on a telephone lines and pages torn from old telephone directories. Notice that the images are also exact and will put us right into the mind of the author.
Notice also that we know already from the beginning that this is a requiem, and when we connect the images with the images, just like we know that Neruda describes everything that his love is not. The use of conceit is usually more fitting to an allegory of extended metaphor.
Creating metaphors is a bit like finding constellations in the stars or finding shapes in clouds. It’s fun and playful.
If you prefer to do an extended metaphor I will not ostracize you for such an effort, but I would prefer if you focused on only imagery.
Another way to create a metaphor is with reference to something well known such as a myth or a piece of literature. For instance in my poem An Albatross I used a reference to Samuel Coleridge’s poem “The rhyme of the ancient Mariner” to describe the duality of freedom. Of course this reference falls flat if you’ve never read that poem (as you can see in some of the comments).
As you have noticed metaphors are often used to make abstract emotions (love, hate, lethargy) or events (aging, death) more concrete. They should both help and surprise the reader.
Metaphors can also be used to describe persons (or maybe pets). You can for example read how Bob Hicock describes a girl whose “collarbones were the shadows of bears” and a boy “whose eyes were lighthouses” in his poem “The Smiths as I understand them” (describing children with special need).
In many poems with metaphors the poet uses many metaphors. Often they may contradict each other, but I often find that contradictions add rather than detract from the imagery.
So to summarize: I want you to use metaphors (not similes). I want you to make an effort to be unique, if you have ever seen it written it might be a cliche or at worst it’s plagiary.
When you have written your poem, put a link directly to your post (not the blog itself) and then have fun reading the other poems and commenting how the metaphors affected you. Were they understandable or cryptic? Did it surprise you? Today we are here to teach and be taught.
Please leave a comment below and try to partake in the discussion.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Happy Thursday… Take your time with this prompt, and add more than one entry if you want. Today we should be creative, and don’t forget to learn from each other… metaphors is to me the most important part of poetry.
jillys2016 said:
Hi, Y’all and thank you Bjorn for hosting; love the prompt. Dashing out to pick up dinner itmes (seems food is on my mind today) and then I’ll be back to read.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Yes indeed, what a wonderful poem you have written… food for thought really.
jillys2016 said:
WA hahaha! Makes me hungery to read more 🙂 (Slipping too quickly into the soup of puns.)
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
A pun that is really an idiom… (they seems to be related)
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lillian said:
Wondrful prompt, Bjorn! And happy Thursday to you and all our dVerse friends out there. I’m going to link up a second one….although written yesterday, it applies as it uses metaphors. So, metaphorically speaking, let the fun begin! 🙂
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I want the metaphors to be playful … or serious … whatever people like.
alisonhankinson said:
Quite a challenge…but is my Phoenix a cliche or a metaphor?
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Phoenix can be a cliche.. but your car wreck wasn’t … so I think it makes it ok… but you have a point. Some cliches are so well used so we do not notice them…
Gospel Isosceles said:
This was a real challenge! Not my strength, those metaphors. Perhaps why I admire the writing of Annie Proulx so much, who is THE master of metaphor. I even wrote a blog post once on her best analogies spanning four books of short stories and four novels. Thanks for the challenge.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I need to check that, myself I admire the poetry of Pablo Neruda… just packed with metaphors… 🙂
Gospel Isosceles said:
Ooh yes, great stuff. I can’t remember the title but one of his books of poetry is in the form of all questions. His metaphors blew my mind.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
The book of questions…. ? great idea for a prompt… I love his sonnets.
Gospel Isosceles said:
Well that was easy. It’s called ‘The Book of Questions’ (in English, but I remember the version I read had the Spanish as well.) Here’s a link:
https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/pages/browse/book.asp?bg=%7B3BA6B146-04D4-4A18-8003-4B54C6F8F758%7D
kim881 said:
Good evening, Björn ! Good evening dVerse poets! I’m not sure if I’ve approached metaphors appropriately – I’ve had another day of dental work, which I hope has now come to an end until m y next check up, but my jaw still aches and I’m ready for bed, so I won’t be stopping at the pub for long this evening. However, I’ll be back tomorrow to continue reading and commenting. It’s turned cold here and I’ve sorting out my wardrobe, getting out warmer clothes, and am looking forward to sweaters, scarves and gloves. I even found my sparkly beret! So look out autumn, I’m prepared!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Maybe toothache can be a metaphor for something else… ?
kim881 said:
🙂
whimsygizmo said:
Be well, Kim. Tooth and jaw pain is no joke. Sending prayers and hugs.
kim881 said:
Thank you 🙂
kanzensakura said:
Wow…a sparkly beret! 🙂 That should help your tooth feel a little bit better!
kim881 said:
It has black sequins on it – posh Parisian 🙂
kim881 said:
The beret – not the tooth!
sarahsouthwest said:
tooth stuff is awful. Everything in your mouth feels enormous. Hope you feel better today x
kim881 said:
Thanks Sarah. Once the anasethetic wore off it ached all evening and I had to take painkillers. So far this morning it’s feeling much better.
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Frank Hubeny said:
Thanks for hosting, Bjorn! I linked one using eyes as a metaphor for city lights.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I will be right over Frank
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Victoria C. Slotto said:
One of my favorite prompts, Bjorn. I am missing so many splendid prompts but will try to write to them when I can. N. Dakota family visiting for David’s 70th B-day and then he has to have surgery. The ups and downs of life.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Great to have you visiting… and I look forward to see your metaphors when you are back again.
Victoria C. Slotto said:
I will be glad to be back.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Now it’s bedtime for your bartender… There is some bourbon left, and if you don’t like that there’s whine 🙂
jillys2016 said:
HAHAHA!
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Charley said:
Make mine a read whine, Bar-keep! In a (pair of) dirty glass(es)! Great prompt, by the way.
jillys2016 said:
Please allow me to roll my eyes here. 🙂
Charley said:
C’mon, lucky seven!
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whimsygizmo said:
Cheers, all. Loves me some metaphor. Thanks for hosting, B.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I have a great bottle of metaphor here. Lot me pour you some
paul scribbles said:
Great prompt Bjorn…got to flex a different poetic voice…and thank goodness for schedule at WordPress…just back form teaching…well on the way to midnight so just a quick thanks for all your reading and comments…I’ll spend some early morning time repaying the favour…night all.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Sound great Paul, some morning reading here as well.
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nosaintaugustine said:
Thanks for this one. Metaphor is how we say the same old things in brand new ways.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Poets rarely have new things to say anyway – do we? They say that the world literature is the same ten stories told over and over in new ways.
nosaintaugustine said:
I believe it. We’re all much the same but that’s why we like to read each others stories.
kanzensakura said:
I don’t know if I hit any obvious metaphors in my link or even, any metaphors. I’m not used to writing in “disguise” as I am so direct in my writing. Hope I did okay! Thanks for hosting Bjorn! I would like a nice fresh made from scratch limeade!!!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
But it’s so fun to write it veiled, and the language is filled with metaphors,
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Colin Lee said:
Not sure if I got it, Bjorn. I tried to describe the butterfly-in-stomach without using butterflies and flutters.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
That sounds interesting – now you got me thinking of how I would describe that emotiom
E said:
Brilliant post. I never knew metaphor meant transfer but this makes helpful sense. I’ve often used metaphor in healing work and writing to transfer difficult feelings or experiences into stories, illustrations or concepts that are less direct, scary or hurtful as a way to create safe distance so the lesson of those difficult things can become clear. Comedy is a good example. When we can laugh at ourselves through a story it’s easier to see our truth or the changes we could make for happier outcomes.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
I like what you are saying… metaphors can act as balm on painful wounds,,,
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sarahsouthwest said:
I posted a couple of things. Metaphors can take on a life of their own, I find.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Indeed, maybe metaphors become more than the original
ZurkPoetry said:
Loved this prompt! And I found a few things out doing it too. One is that my hand seems to turn naturally to metaphor to express things, yet there is a lot I don’t, or didn’t know about metaphor, or the best way to use it. And also it’s really easy to use overdone metaphors that are part of daily speech with out even thinking about it, as Rosemary Trommer shows in her Ted talk here, https://youtu.be/eXC3-ZFkhDo which I found really interesting, and appropriate for this prompt! Anyway I really enjoyed the start of this learning curve and look forward to learning more too 😊
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Thank you for the share and that’s the real purpose of the prompt. To learn more from each other and the old masters.
ZurkPoetry said:
It was so good, lots of fun, thanks! 😊
barbara_y said:
Haven’t dropped in at the pub in quite a while. Thanks for the metaphors.
My piece is drafty, but it’s there.
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Great to have you here. I will drop by later during the weekend.
Vivian Zems said:
Thank you Bjorn!
My first attempt at this type of poetry. Comments will be welcome. I wasn’t sure of ….anything!
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
Ha.. we all have to try… But it’s great to take the first steps
AuraOfThoughts MeenalSonal said:
Hello Bjorn, I tried my best to stick to rules and write, hope you all like it. And this is more special as we complete 300 posts with this poetry 🙂
AuraOfThoughts MeenalSonal said:
Just saw the linky expired 4 hours ago 😦
posting our poem in comments here
http://www.auraofthoughts.com/2017/09/life-dreams-expectations.html
Björn Rudberg (brudberg) said:
On Thursday we have an open link event – anything can be linked up then