"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"

Although this poem does not include many examples of figurative language, one example sticks out to clarify the meaning of the poem. The last stanza of the poem is a metaphor that explains where the speaker is actually going. He is not dying, just going on a long journey where he will be away from his lover for a substantial amount of time. In the last stanza, it states "like th' other foot, obliquely run; thy firmness make my circle just and makes me end, where I began." These lines are a metaphor comparing his love and lover to a compass. He is the foot that is going to go in many different during his journey. She is the firmness that hold him in place and steers him in the right direction, eventually leading him back to her, back where he began.

Similes and Metaphors

In chapter 16, the author used a few different similes and metaphors. I thought this variety of literary devices added positively to the novel. Instead of using regular comparisons, Hemmingway spiced up his writing by using the metaphors and similes.

On page 157, the author wrote "the cafe was like a battleship stripped for action." He used a simile to compare the cafe to a battleship instead of just saying "the cafe was really busy." Hemmingway also compared a firecracker to a bomb. He wrote "the ball of smoke hing in the sky like a shrapnel burst..." This comparison makes the writing more interesting. It also provides imagery because a reader can picture the burst of light in the sky.

Along with similes, the author also used metaphors. For example, Hemmingway compared "a guard of soldiers" (pg 159) to giants. He was able to compare two different things with out the use of like or as. The variety in his writing keeps the readers interested and enthralled in the novel.