A metaphor states that one thing is something else. This description, however, is too simple for the way metaphors often work in poetry, literature and speeches. You will often find something being described, or written about, as if it is something else, without the writer ever saying 'x is y' (do you see the mathematical metaphor there?).
Some of the examples in this quiz are quite challenging to spot. Others are more obvious. Keep paying attention and you will soon see that metaphors are everywhere!
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You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Language and structure
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The sky is metaphorically the diaphragm, or the muscle which controls breathing - this image magnifies the tension felt by the two characters in the poem: it is not just they who hold their breath; it is the entire sky waiting in stillness
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'Weak' and 'rotten' would not be metaphors. Remember that a metaphor is where one thing is described as something else. 'Weak' and 'rotten' are adjectives, not things (nouns)
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Metaphors in poetry can work on several levels at the same time. It is also possible to use different metaphors for the same thing - if you read these lines closely, it appears that the speaker is the rising sun, as well as the sea
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What does it mean, metaphorically, to have a throat blocked by silt? The person being addressed here is unlikely to be a good communicator - the speaker says she has helpfully tried to unblock his throat, but the effort has been fruitless
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Curls that are 'tiny, little sausages' make a striking image
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The ladies are described with an unusual, and highly-effective, simile - they are like tea-cakes
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Romeo's speech is playful - the light is the east, Juliet is the Sun, the sunrise 'kills' the Moon
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Faith is both a tool and the art of a composer; despair is a mountain in which can be found the 'stone' of hope; the nation is a cacophonous noise, while brotherhood is described metaphorically as a symphony
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