Poetry and Figurative Language Paper

Poetry and Figurative Language Paper

Figurative Language

Figurative language is a key tool for writers; it allows an author to extend the words and phrases beyond their literal definition. Figurative language provides a way to describe the abstract features or provide descriptions that evoke a particular image. In addition, figurative language can serve as a humorous tool. The ability to use figurative language can help a writer create poems that entertains the reader and provides a creative means of expression. In this paper, figurative language of three poems is identified.

The Road not Taken

“The Road Not Taken”, full of symbolism concerning the choices one must make in life, also quietly alludes to one key idea concerning isolation: One must make these choices alone. The narrator is in the forest with two paths before him. The road splitting into two in the woods is a metaphor of choice for the character. The character has come to a point where he has to take an important choice in his life. That choice may have good or unsatisfactory results, but it needs to be taken (Shmoop, 2010). The road can only be seen for a short distance which is similar to the fact that the consequences of a decision in the future can only be discerned for a short time.

According to the narrator, the paths are “equal”. One path is not good and the other evil, one is not treacherous and the other easy; they are simply paths. Each path has been chosen by someone before him—someone with a choice to make. Though both paths are worn “about the same”, the narrator notices that one is less worn, and this becomes the “road less traveled”. As he looks back on his life, the narrator realizes that when it was time to make the choice, the path he chose “made all the difference”.

This poem is about decisions and the passage of time. A true “coming of age” poem “The Road Not Taken” symbolically highlights the freedom one has to create his own destiny. Given the narrator's “sigh”, the reader is unsure if the narrator is pleased with the road he traveled, or if he has made a mistake. While some take the right path, not everyone makes the appropriate choice (Shmoop, 2010). When reminiscing, there are those who wish their life had taken a different course. By then, however, it is ...