POETRY PRESCRIPTION: METAPHOR

​It’s time for another blog post about the use of poetic devices in picture book writing.

​“Poetic devices are tools used to create rhythm, enhance meaning, and intensify mood using a variety of writing strategies.” (Shared from Linsey Betts and Kara Wilson at Study.com) 

​Today, we’ll take a look at the poetic device: Metaphor

A metaphor suggests a comparison but isn’t directly stating one. (See Simile post next month, which is a direct comparison.) Instead, it describes an object as though it is something else. Its effect is to:

• make something unfamiliar more familiar
• help the reader create a better visual image

​Rhyme Doctor Patricia Toht uses metaphor to advantage in her poetry collection ALL ABOARD THE LONDON BUS (Illustrated by Sam Usher).

I admire her inventive and beautiful use of metaphor in “The London Eye” poem describing this massive observation wheel and comparing it to a glittering charm bracelet. Using a metaphor can also free up the artist, giving that individual wider latitude for the illustrations!

A bracelet that hangs off the arm of the Thames,
its pods, filled with people, all dangle like gems. . . .

In HAPPY SLOTH DAY! by the late writer and photographer April Pulley Sayre and her husband Jeff Sayre, you’ll enjoy this wonderful metaphor:
 
A mommy hammock climbs.
Furry arms hold her tight.
(photograph of a baby sloth clinging to its mother as she climbs.)
 
Here, the authors indirectly relate mommy as a cozy hammock for her baby sloth. 

The metaphors I shared are images of a glittering charm bracelet and a cozy hammock.

​Do you have an object that could be better explained using a metaphor? Do you want to convey a certain tone by comparing the object to something with a positive or negative connotation?

​Poetic devices are a great tool in your writer’s toolbox. I’ll see you back here next month.
Happy writing!
 
by Eileen Meyer, Rhyme Doctor