Metaphor & Figuration
Metaphor
Describing one thing in terms of another: “their friendship was cracked glass.” The comparison highlights shared features, such as damage or fragility, while leaving other features aside.
"Juliet is the sun." — Romeo and Juliet
Don't confuse it with Simile, Catachresis. Simile flags the comparison with like/as, keeping the two things separate. A metaphor sustained across a passage becomes extended metaphor or allegory; a strained, category-breaking one is catachresis.
A similar example that does not qualify
The window was cracked glass.
In an ordinary description of a broken window, glass is its actual material. Context must establish a transfer of meaning.
Counterexample written for practice.
Compare sentences using Metaphor →Examples
Her voice was a lantern in the dark room.
The voice is identified with a lantern, transferring the idea of guidance or illumination.
"Hope" is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul -
Hope is identified as a feathered creature that perches, rather than compared using “like” or “as.”
A possible effect: The bird image gives hope a living form that seems to remain within the speaker.
Practice explaining this example →Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
Troubles become a sea, while resistance is imagined as taking up weapons.
A possible effect: The vast sea makes the difficulties seem overwhelming, while the idea of attacking water makes resistance hard to picture.
Practice explaining this example →After the argument, their friendship was cracked glass.
The friendship is identified with a material object.
A possible effect: “Cracked glass” makes damage and the risk of further breakage concrete.
Practice explaining this example →The rumor was a weed in every conversation.
A rumor is identified as an unwanted plant spreading through conversation.
A possible effect: The weed image suggests persistent growth that is difficult to remove.
Practice explaining this example →Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as metaphor.
Anaphora 26 Personification 22 Passive Voice 14 Parallelism 14 Hyperbole 12 Antithesis 10 Asyndeton 10 Litotes 10
The rest of the family
Simile Catachresis Metonymy Synecdoche Personification Prosopopoeia Pathetic Fallacy Transferred Epithet / Hypallage Metalepsis Symbol Allusion Mythopoesis