Metaphor

Metaphor Definition

Metaphor is a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics.

Common Speech Examples of Metaphors

·  It is going to be clear skies from now on. (This implies that clear skies are not a threat and life is going to be without hardships)

·  The skies of his future began to darken. (Darkness is a threat; therefore, this implies that the coming times are going to be hard for him.)

Literary Metaphor Examples

Metaphors are used in all type of literature but not often to the degree they are used in poetry because poems are meant to communicate complex images and feelings to the readers and metaphors often state the comparisons most emotively. Here are some examples of metaphor from famous poems.
“Shall I Compare Thee to a summer’s Day”,
William Shakespeare was the best exponent of the use of metaphors. His poetical works and dramas all make wide-ranging use of metaphors.
“Sonnet 18,”also known as “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day,” is an extended metaphor between the love of the speaker and the fairness of the summer season. He writes that “thy eternal summer,” here taken to mean the love of the subject, “shall not fade.”
references

http://literarydevices.net/metaphor/