Seeing is Understanding

Here are some examples of poems that use metaphor, simile, personification, and alliteration effectively.

Metaphor:

"'Hope' is the thing with feathers -" By Emily Dickinson

"Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

Simile:

1st Stanza of "A Red, Red Rose" By Robert Burns

My love is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June :
My love is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.

Personification:

"Fog" By Carl Sandburg

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Alliteration:

1st three lines of "The Death of the Hired Man" By Robert Frost

Marty sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table
Waiting for Warren. When she heard his step,
She ran on tip-toe down the darkened passage...

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