14.5 Grammar in Use
As Chapter 14 is a poem built on comparisons, we focus on poetic devices, especially similes and metaphors, then on using them in your own writing.
1. Imagery
Imagery is language that creates pictures in the mind. The poem is full of it — shells inside chalk, a forest in a patch of moss, a hive of life in a drop of water. This sensory language lets us see the tiny world the speaker discovers.
2. Simile
A simile compares two things using like or as. The poet says a drop of water is like a hive of bees, and an inch of moss is like a forest. A simile makes the unfamiliar (a magnified water drop) clear by linking it to something familiar (a busy beehive).
3. Metaphor
A metaphor also compares, but without like or as — it says one thing simply is another. If we say “the drop of water was a tiny ocean,” that is a metaphor. Metaphors are stronger and more direct than similes.
Simile vs Metaphor Simile: uses like or as — the moss was like a forest. Metaphor: no like/as; says it is — the moss was a forest. Both compare two things to create a vivid picture.
4. Other devices
The poem also uses rhyme and rhythm to make the lines musical, and gentle alliteration to please the ear. Together with imagery, these turn simple observations into poetry.
Practice A. Say whether each is a simile or a metaphor:
- The dewdrop was a tiny mirror.
- The web shone like silver thread.
- An inch of moss was a green forest.
- Metaphor 2. Simile 3. Metaphor
Practice B. Turn this simile into a metaphor: The spider’s web was like a net.
The spider’s web was a net. (Remove “like” and say it is.)