Figurative Language II: Symbol & Allegory

Symbolism

When talking about “symbolism” It is necessary to make a distinction between how the word is generally understood, and how it is understood in poetic studies. Generally, a symbol is anything that represents something else. In poetry, however, a symbol is something that “functions literally and figuratively at the same time” (Sound & Sense, p. 91).

In Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” we find the speaker (a traveler) recounting a time when he had to make a choice between two roads in a wood. He literally had to make a choice about which road to take. This incident also has a figurative meaning of our daily life choices when we have to make a decision between two (or more) options. Choosing which path to talk becomes a symbol for our choices in life.

Allegory

“Allegory is a narrative [i.e. a story] . . . that has a second meaning beneath the surface. Although the surface story or description may have its own interest, the author’s major interest is in the ulterior meaning” (Sound & Sense, p. 99).

An allegory always has two parts: a story/description and a deeper meaning. While we will not be studying specific allegory poems this semester, some poems have embedded within them some allegorical elements.

Figurative Language I

There are many types of figurative language. In this post we will look at six types, namely: metaphor, simile, personification, apostrophe, metonymy, and synecdoche.

Simile & Metaphor

If I say the sun is like an orange, then an orange becomes a symbol for the sun. They are similar in color and in form (spherical). When I use terms such as "like", "as", "than", "resembles", we call it simile. "The sun is like an orange", is an example of a simile. When I omit such words of reference, and merely say X = Y, it is a metaphor. For example, "The sun is an orange" is a metaphor.

Sound & Sense (p. 72-74) explains that metaphor can take one of four forms, “depending on whether the literal and figurative terms are respectively named or implied.”

Personification

When a thing, animal or something abstract (e.g. Truth), is given the attributes of a human, it is called personification. In Dickinson’s poem “Apparently with no surprise” the flowers are described as “happy”; this is an example of personification.

Apostrophe

Apostrophe is a way of speaking to someone (dead) or something which one does not ordinarily speak to. For example, if I speak to my chair, or if I speak to Elvis Presley, it is called apostrophe. When I speak to my pet cat it would not be considered apostrophe because people often speak to their pets. However, if my cat is dead and I then speak to it, it would be considered apostrophe.

Synecdoche & Metonymy

Sound & Sense (p. 78) explains: “In contrast to the preceding figures that compare unlike things are two figures that rest on congruences or correspondences. Synecdoche (the use of the part for the whole) and metonymy (the use of something closely related for the thing actually meant) are alike in that both substitute some significant detail or quality of an experience for the experience itself.”

If I ask you to give me a hand, your "hand" stands for the whole of you – this is called synecdoche. Similarly if you bought a new car and I compliment your new car by saying “Nice wheels!” then the "wheels", which is a part of the car, represents the whole car. This is another example of synecdoche.

When I describe the library as “a house of pens”, it is metonymy. A library is not a house of pens; rather it is a house of books. However, pens are associated with writing and with books. Pens and books are therefore closely related although not actually part of the same thing. When figures are compared that are closely related (although not part of the same thing), it is called metonymy.

Consider the following questions from the "Reviewing Chapter Five" section in Sound & Sense:

1. Distinguish between language used literally and language used figuratively, and consider why poetry is often figurative.
2. Define the figures of comparison (simile and metaphor, personification and apostrophe), and rank them in order of their emotional effectiveness.
3. Define the figures of congruence or correspondence (synecdoche and metonymy).
4. Review the four major contributions of figurative language.
   

Figurative Language & Figures of Speech

Figurative language is language with a deeper and often aesthetic meaning and “cannot be taken literally” (Compare with connotation); a figure of speech is “any way of saying something other than the ordinary way,” (Sound & Sense, p. 71).
Figurative language contributes to poetry in four major ways (Sound & Sense, p. 79, 80):

1. Figurative language affords us imaginative pleasure by linking different things in interesting ways.
2. Figures of speech bring additional imagery into verse, making the abstract more concrete, and making poetry more sensuous.
3. Figures of speech add emotional intensity to otherwise informative statements.
4. Because figures of speech are so rich in meaning, they can say more in a small space.