MODULE 4: UNDERSTANDING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE AND IMAGERY

The learning objectives of this module are:

• To understand what is meant by Figurative Language and Imagery, and the differences between a metaphor and a simile.
• To examine other types of imagery including: Personification and Idioms.
  

INTRODUCTION

What is poetry? What is a poet? We briefly looked at these two fundamental questions earlier in the course, as well as coming up with some of our own personal definitions of who we are as poets, which is important - we need to understand who we are! But what is the 'magic' of poetry? What creates that amazing poem; a piece of poetry that is assessed, discussed and talked about? What makes one poem sink amongst the sea of millions of others, and another float above them all? It is, of course, the capacity to create a believable world through words.

How do poets create this magic? What gives a word its power?

As with most forms of literature - especially poetry - the right word, phrase and sentence can make you see, hear, touch, taste or even smell something that is but a figment of the imagination. The brain does not know the difference between what's real and what isn't (this is why we often think dreams are real), and so the images created on the page can create 'real' experiences in the mind. But there is an art in creating these potent images, and there are a number of extremely important tools and devices to enable you to do so.

In this module, we will be looking closely at a few more of these tools, and we will be asking you to use these tools to create some of your own images. But first, we look at the mood and movement of a poem, and introduce you to the notion of figurative language, including various literary tools and devices that affect our senses.

WHAT IS MEANT BY FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE?

Generally, language falls into two main categories: figurative and literal. With literal language, words are used conventionally and the meaning is clear. For example; a car maintenance manual, or a technical pamphlet for constructing a set of DIY shelves. Figurative language, however, refers to language not used literally; words are used suggestively or abstractly to create a special mood, experience or effect. For example, to 'run like the wind', or you are 'over the moon' about something, or 'jumping for joy.' Maybe your life is 'like a roller-coaster,' or you are running around 'like a headless chicken.' These are all examples of figurative language. Of course you are not really a headless chicken, and the idea of being 'over the moon' - as first written in Hey Diddle Diddle back in 1765 - is nonsensical, but through the use of figurative language we are provided with a picture that encapsulates a certain sense, experience or meaning - we are so happy we really can soar up into the sky, straight over the moon.

Hey, diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed

To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

And so figurative language is used by poets to create images in the mind that are so believable we think they really do exist. Figurative language, used correctly, adds colour and character to a poem, which feeds the imagination of the reader with images that can astonish, surprise and delight.

Figuration is not just a matter of language though; it provides the foundation for thought, reason and imagination, and poets use figuration as a way of making sense of the world around us. Poets take something commonplace or 'literal' and, with the proper use of figurative language, help us see things from a different standpoint or view. It is the power of figurative language that can intensify a poem's purpose, connecting ideas together. Figurative language isn't just embellishment, but can be used to persuade and illuminate.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN METAPHOR AND SIMILE

The two most common types of figurative language are metaphor and simile; many people confuse the two.

SIMILE

A simile is a figure of speech where one thing is directly compared to another using words such as 'like', 'as', 'as if', 'seems' or 'appears.' They do not have to be physically alike though, but by comparing them, a specific interpretation is formed. For example, in the below, Robert Burns is evoking a sense of love (like a red rose) that is new and fresh and beautiful, and Simon Armitage writes “long and cool like cocktails” based on the unavailability of sophisticated girls to a working class schoolboy.

A Red, Red Rose

By Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

(Lines 1 - 12)

O my Luve is like a red, red rose

     That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve is like the melody

     That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

     So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

     Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,

     And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;

I will love thee still, my dear,

    While the sands o’ life shall run.

You may turn over and begin

By Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

(Lines 13 - 18)

That term - everybody felt the heat

but the girls were having none of it:

long and cool like cocktails,

out of reach, their buns and pigtails

only let out for older guys with studded jackets

and motor-bikes and spare helmets.



METAPHOR

A metaphor however, is also a direct comparison between two things, but without using the words 'like' 'as' seems etc. Again, they don't have to be alike physically, but they should have perceived similarities. 

The Sun Rising

By John Donne (1572 - 1631)

She is all states, and all princes, I.

Nothing else is.

Princes do but play us; compared to this,

All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.

In one of the most evocative metaphors in literature, Donne is claiming that his lover is like every country in the world, and he every ruler - nothing else exists outside of them. Their love is so strong that they are the world and all else is fake.

When I Have Fears,

By John Keats

Before high piled books, in charactery,

Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain.

In this example, Keats employs a double metaphor; writing poetry is implicitly compared with reaping and sowing, and that reaping and sowing represents the emptiness of a life unfulfilled creatively.



OTHER TYPES OF IMAGERY

As well as similes and metaphors, there are various other devices where words are used figuratively to evoke emotion and meaning.

PERSONIFICATION

In order to give a greater meaning in the poem, Personification involves giving a non-living thing the qualities of something that is alive. For example; 'Rain, dancing on the roof' or 'the sun is smiling down upon us'. By giving non-living things human elements, the poet can evoke or magnify a particular mood or emotion within the reader.

Two Sunflowers Move in the Yellow Room

By William Blake (1757 - 1827)

“Ah, William, we’re weary of weather,”

said the sunflowers, shining with dew.

“Our travelling habits have tired us.

Can you give us a room with a view?”

The sunflowers in this poem are talking to William Blake, telling him that they want to be moved because they are tired of being outside in the weather. And notice how the daffodils are dancing in Wordsworth's poem below.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

By William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

SYNECDOCHE

Derived from the Greek word synekdoche: “simultaneous meaning.” a synecdoche is a word or phrase used to represent something else. However, what is important is that the word or phrase is actually part of something that can reflect the entirety. For example, calling someone who works in an office a 'suit,' is a part of that person (their uniform), which represents that whole of what they do, or stand for i.e. the office culture. The poet might use this device to give a distinct or deeper understanding of the word or its context. For example a 'suit' denoting someone who thinks and upholds corporate ideals, and not just a person who happens to work in an office. 

IDIOMS

Idioms are commonly used phrases comprising of two or more words, that use figurative language to mean something other than their literal meaning. Poets can use idioms to embellish and enhance language, giving it a briefer meaning than a long literal explanation. For example “Love is blind” first seen in writing in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales “... For love is blind all day, and may not see ...” This phrase means that true love is not superficial, or perhaps it can also mean that lovers can be blind to each others' faults. “Wear my heart upon my sleeve,” was first used by Shakespeare in Othello when Iago describes how he would be vulnerable if he revealed his dislike of Othello. In the play, the phrase continues to state that the “daws" or crows, would be able to peck at his heart if he revealed it. Today, people use this phrase to mean that they are showing their real feelings about something. Shakespeare is credited with coining over 2,000 idioms, many of which have been used steadily ever since.



CONCLUSION

I hope you've enjoyed this fourth module. In this module we have looked at what is meant by Figurative Language, and the differences between a metaphor and simile, as well as examining other types of imagery including personification, synecdoche and idioms and at how they are used to instil a deeper meaning and understanding within the poem.

MODULE 5

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