CLASSIC POET’S CORNER: Emily Dickinson
A Lesson in METAPHOR

Metaphors got you all floating on air, sliding in and out of reveries, dancing on sunshine and rainbows? This darling poetic device can rock someone’s world or slip in between the cracks of anybody’s ordinary thoughts on paper.
Emily Dickinson nailed it with her take on hope. Of all her poems, this is easily in my top three. Her ability to capture exactly what we all think and feel then weave it into something so clipped and emotional … {sigh}.
Metaphors make great hooks for essays, fodder for existential proclamations, and, of course, sparkling nuggets of gold in an otherwise ordinary poem. For this exercise, wedge one of these bad boys into your verse and watch it go from interesting to provocative. Dig deep and let the words fly.
Here are some metaphorical phrases to get you started.
Metaphors to start a verse:
Their bed of lies …
Your heart of stone …
His iron will drove him to …
The open book that is her life …
Each chapter in his journey …
His words were food for his/her soul …
The storm inside her head kept …
His/her countenance was light and life …
Those words igniting the child’s imagination with blazing …
Metaphors to end a verse:
… broken hope but mended with gold
… hidden in the gray area of our circumstance
… lost in the sea of tranquility
… buried deep in the caverns in his heart
… cherishing all the stars in her eyes
… with all the joy bubbling over
… kindling the fire in their hearts
… reaping the harvest of bitterness
… whispered between the lines of love and hate
Now, go forth my rock-solid poet and smash some oddball thinga-ma-dillies together followed by some enlightening connection we all couldn’t see without your help! I bet you’ve gotten all warm and fuzzy and have already made your own list of metaphorical phrases to put into that phenomenal poetry of yours. I can’t wait for you to share your work with me!
~Brooke E. Wayne

