Metaphor


A direct comparison between two unlike nouns (persons, places, things) without using
the words “like” or “as”.
We use metaphors everyday and we don’t even notice them.
Example: Your room is a garbage dump!
(The room is compared to a garbage dump— it must be very dirty and messy)

Metaphors that run throughout a poem are called extended metaphors.
Clouds
Directions: Answer in paragraph format in
your poetry notebook.
By James Reaney
1. What are the clouds compared to in
this selection?
These clouds are soft fat horses
That draw Weather in his wagon
Who bears in his old hands
Streaked whips and strokes of lightning.
The hooves of his cattle are made
Of limp water, that stamp
Upon the roof during a storm
And fall from dripping eaves;
Yet these hooves have worn away mountains
In their trotting over Earth.
And for manes these clouds
Have the soft and various winds
That still can push
A ship into the sea
And neighs, the sable thunder.
Vocabulary
Eaves: The lower edges of a roof projecting beyond the
walls of a building.
Neighs: The cry or sound a horse makes
Sable: Black
2. Based on the comparison what kind of
a day is being described? Use
specific details from the poem to
support your response.
3. Describe the rain in this poem. Is it a
downpour? Why? Why not? Explain.
4. What is the poet saying about the
power of water in this selection? Use
specific images and descriptions
from the poem to support your
response.
Visual Representations
5. Create a visual representation
(drawings, tracing, computer creations
etc.) of the main metaphor in this
poem. Make sure you represent the
two things being compared in the
poem.
Imagery: words, phrases, and descriptions that appeal to the five senses—sight, sound, touch, taste,
smell.
Wind-Wolves
By William D. Sargent
Do you hear the cry as the pack goes by,
The wind-wolves hunting across the sky?
Hear them tongue it, keen and clear,
Hot on the flanks of the flying deer!
Across the forest, mere, and plain,
Their hunting howl goes up again!
All night they'll follow the ghostly trail,
All night we'll hear their phantom wail,
For tonight the wind-wolf pack holds sway
From Pegasus Square to the Milky Way,
And the frightened bands of cloud-deer flee
In scattered groups of two and three.
Vocabulary
Flanks: The side of animal between the ribs and hip.
Pegasus: The winged horse of Greek Mythology. A northern constellation (group of stars)
Milky Way: The large group of stars stretching across the sky.
1. What is the main metaphor? What two things are being compared in this poem? Hint:
_____________ is/are compared to___________
2. How does this metaphor add to or improve the poem? Hint: Does the comparison appeal to
the senses? How?
3. What are the flying deer? What helped you decide? Hint: Imagery
4. Create a visual representation of stanza 3.
5. What kind of evening is being described in Wind Wolves? How do you know? What words or
phrases helped you decide? Discuss two (2) specific details from the text.
6. Copy an example of imagery that appeals to the sense of sound. Explain how the image
improves the poem. Hint: How did you react to the description?
7. Create visual representation of the main image in this poem. Use colours to help convey
(show) the mood the poem.