We've discussed Frye's first essay / lecture, "The Motive for Metaphor", in class. Give a poetic example of how, "the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it" (Frye).
For the poetic source, please use a song you enjoy.
- Include your poem/song in your response.
- Try to place your poem/song after your introduction paragraph.
- Explain your choice.
- Cite your poem/song, using a MLA listing.
23 comments:
Taylor Swift's Message with Metaphors
In life humans experience a variety of feelings such as love, hate, jealousy, excitement etc. Through different techniques, humans are able to share with others how they feel, sometimes in the form of a literary piece (novel, poem, song, play). In literary work, expressing something – a feeling, a smell, a sight etc. writers use a metaphor. A metaphor is a phrase or a term that is not expected to be taken literally which is used to show resemblance. Northrop Frye brings up a valid point when stating “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it", the point of the metaphor is to make the audience recognize a feeling that human’s are generally familiar with due to experiences outside the human mind, out of anybodies control.
"Cold As You"
You have a way of coming easily to me
And when you take, you take the very best of me
So I start a fight cause I need to feel something
And you do what you want cause I'm not what you wanted
Oh what a shame, what a rainy ending given to a perfect day
Just walk away, ain't no use defending words that you will never say
And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through
I've never been anywhere cold as you
You put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray
And I stood there loving you and wished them all away
And you come away with a great little story
Of a mess of a dreamer with the nerve to adore you
You never did give a damn thing honey but I cried, cried for you
And I know you wouldn't have told nobody if I died, died for you
(Died for you)
Oh what a shame, what a rainy ending given to a perfect day
Every smile you fake is so condescending
Counting all the scars you made
And now that I'm sitting here thinking it through
I've never been anywhere cold as you
- Taylor Swift
I am using one of my personal favourite songs to give an example of an author’s purpose when using a metaphor. Cold As You is Taylor Swift writing about a lost love who didn’t treat her well. She uses the metaphor “never been anywhere cold as you” not describing the boy as freezing, but mean and rude. Swift uses being outside in the cold as a way to describe her inner feelings, when you’re somewhere chilly you are not in control of how your body feels and Swift is trying to sing to the listeners that she isn’t in control of how she feels towards this boy. Beginning in the first stanza, “and when you take, you take the very best of me” explaining that the boy takes all of her good qualities from her, so when he’s left she feels at her worst, this is a metaphor because the boy is not actually taking all the persona’s feelings physically from her – it’s describing her downfall. The song Taylor Swift has written is all about her downfall, she uses metaphors for her audience to comprehend her feelings within her head.
Taylor Swift describes the boy in the third stanza, “You put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray and I stood there loving you and wished them all away.” Describing the boy as a standoff boy who didn’t let her into his life, he was very pessimistic (which the colour gray is symbolizing). In the course of the song, the second stanza, “Oh what a shame, what a rainy ending given to a perfect day.” It is my favourite because it is the most powerful metaphor found in the song. Taylor Swift is not describing to us the forecast of her day, she is reminding us that on a rainy day we feel glum, upset, stuck – she is making us recognize the feeling she is feeling, she is describing her love using symbols and visuals - which is the intention when using metaphors.
A metaphor can be used to describe a sight, a sound, a taste, anything. Taylor Swift uses metaphors in her song to have her audience feel heart break with her and understand the characters causing her to feel this way. Cold As You is about a girl who can’t help the way she has suddenly began to feel, it seemed perfect to her in the beginning but it has become a mess of feelings in the end. Without metaphors within this song, interpreters would not feel as closely connected to what Swift is trying to say, without metaphors all audiences would not be able to give such a close interpretation as they can when given visuals and comparisons to help them recognize the message getting passed on.
Imagination's Attempt to Relate
In the book, The Educated Imagination, Northrop Frye states that humans look at the world from two different angles, the world that they see and surrounds them, and the world they create in their minds with the use of the imagination. He also argues that the imagination is a building tool man uses in order to relate the world they envision in their minds with the world that surrounds them and intrigues them. Literature is the method man has developed in order to help him associate these two worlds. He combines language and imagination to give a meaning to something in the “objective world” -as Frye calls it- that another person can understand and see due to the connection they share and which is referred to as the Collective Consciousness.
Poetry being the basic form of literature, has symbols and metaphors in it which help the poet express their feelings and emotions in a way that everyone can understand because everyone has been thrown into the same alien environment and has seen the things that have become symbols in the poem, thus helping the audience relate to the poet and his feelings. The audience has seen, smelled, touched, or heard the things in the objective world that have become symbols in the poem, thus, symbols also help the poet reach the inner most part of oneself by accessing the five senses of man and this, helps the imagination decipher the meaning of a metaphor.
The poem that I have chosen for this assignment is called, Tree by Joyce Kilmer:
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
First of all, there are a lot of symbols used by Kilmer in this poem, the most important being the tree. The tree represents a woman, a being who is a source of life, intriguing, beautiful and
who casts a shadow of comfort, just like a tree. It is a good metaphor used by Kilmer because it immediately forces the reader to use their imagination to compare a woman and a tree, two things that are completely different figuratively speaking, but that our mind can relate in many aspects.
When people think of poems, they usually associate them as to having something to do with love and romance. Without a doubt, there are many poems that have been written with the intention to describe the beauty of a woman, but what Kilmer is saying in the first stanza is that there has never been one poem that can truly describe a woman's beauty.
In the second stanza he talks about, “the sweet earth's flowing breast” (Tree, Joyce Kilmer) and how a tree – a woman – is prest against it. The breast of a woman is a source of nourishment, it is the first source of nourishment that has been giving to every person. What I grasp from this metaphor is that women not only feed us when we are small and vulnerable, but that women themselves are a source of love, a love we need along with food because in a way we are always vulnerable.
In the third stanza when trees are said to, “look at God all day, And lifts their leafy arms to pray” (Tree, Joyce Kilmer), the first image that comes to mind is that of a noun. Nouns can be seen as a source of purity, faithfulness, and guidance. Which is basically what Kilmer is saying women are. They are pure in heart, loyal and can listen to you and give you advice when needed.
The fourth stanza talks about women as being a source of life because they carry and give birth to children. Another theme in this stanza is that of protection. Trees are a refugee to many animals, they provide food, protection and shelter. Very much like women who can comfort and care for someone when that person is vulnerable. Their love and compassion provides man with a sense of security and comfort just like a tree is a refuge to a nest of robins in the summer.
My favorite stanza is the fifth one, “Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain” (Tree, Joyce Kilmer). I think it defines women's fragility and sensibility. The snow symbolizes sadness, melancholy, anguish and woe. Snow is very cold and is common in winter, a season in which everything dies, it is dark and that can be disheartening for most people. By saying such emotions had laid on a woman's heart, it really makes the reader sympathize and realize just how delicate women are.
And by saying that women “intimately live with rain” (Tree, Joyce Kilmer), the image of a woman crying pops into my mind. This stanza really emphasizes just how fragile a woman is.
Finally the last stanza explains in poetic language how we can all try to describe how beautiful and sweet women are in poems, but that we are all fools for trying to recreate women in paper, for only God can make something so perfect.
Crack the Metaphor
There are often times when individuals find themselves unable to express the feelings that have overwhelmed them. Whether the emotions of love, hurt, anger, frustration, or happiness have taken over one’s life, it can be hard for others to understand exactly how they feel. It is through metaphors that they can share their feelings by directly comparing one thing to another different thing. Northrop Frye explains in his first talk of The Educated Imagination, “The motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it.” With the use of a metaphor, individuals will be able to identify with another by the understanding of the thing that they do not know, to the one thing that they do know. In the song Play Crack the Sky, by Brand New, the band is able to express the feeling of heartbreak and loss through the use of metaphors.
Play Crack the Sky
Sent out the S.O.S call.
It was a quarter past four in the morning
When the storm broke our second anchor line.
Four months at sea, four months of calm seas to be pounded
In the shallows off the tip of Montauk Point.
They call them rogues; they travel fast and alone--
One-hundred-foot faces of God’s good ocean gone wrong.
What they call love is a risk, to always get hit out of nowhere
By some wave and end up on your own.
A hole in the hull defied the crew’s attempts, to bail us out.
It flooded the engine and radio, half-buried bow.
Your tongue is a rudder.
It steers the whole ship, sends your words past your lips,
Or keeps them safe behind your teeth.
But the wrong words will strand you, come off course while you sleep,
Sweep your boat out sea or dashed to bits on the reef.
The vessel groans; the ocean pressure is its frame.
To the port I see the lighthouse through the sleet and the rain.
And I wish for one more day to give my love and repay debts,
But the morning finds our bodies washed up thirty miles west.
They say that the captain stays fast with the ship through still and storm,
But this ain’t the Dakota; the water’s cold.
Won’t have to fight for long.
This is the end.
This story’s old, but it goes on and on until we disappear.
Calm me and let me taste the salt you breathed while you were underneath.
I am the one that haunts your dreams of mountains sunk below the sea.
I spoke the words but never gave a thought to what they all could mean.
I know that this (rest in the deep) is what you want.
A funeral keeps both of us apart.
You know that you are not alone.
I need you like water in my lungs.
This is the end.
New, Brand. Fight Off Your Demons. 26 Oct. 2007. http://fightoffyourdemons.com
While this beautiful song appears to exemplify the journey of a captain and his crew, it is a much more complex poem. Throughout the song, the lead singer and writer of the lyrics, Jesse Lacey, uses many metaphors to explain to his audience the pain and suffering he has endured. This song is not about a captain and his boat, but the complicated relationship between two lovers that comes to a sudden end. This song is really expressing heartache and loss by comparing it to the destruction of a boat and its crew. The ship represents the actual relationship between the persona and his love. Like the demise of the ship due to the storm, the relationship between the lovers is destroyed due to difficulties and hardships and is eventually ended.
In the first stanza, there are clears signs of trouble in the relationship. There are obvious indications that the couple is experiencing a rough time, “Four months of calm seas to be pounded,” and the relationship is headed toward failure. Sending out an S.O.S call allows the audience to realize that disaster is approaching. The sever to the second anchor line leaves the impression that the last nerve has been hit. Lacey describes love as a risk and states that tragedy can strike and ruin the relationship when it is least expected. When such a disaster happens, it leaves one scared, hurt, and abandoned. The third stanza brings the audience to the awareness that there was an argument between the couple. The persona connects the tongue to a rudder, meaning that any words spoken will guide an individual along a certain course. In this situation, the persona seemed to speak the erroneous words, “But the wrong words will strand you, come off-course while you sleep, sweep your boat out to sea or dashed to bits on the reef.” Through this metaphor, Lacey explains that the course of the relationship is like that of a boat’s. One wrong action or word can lead the relationship down a harmful path, leaving them stranded, and unable to mend the bond. The lighthouse in the fourth stanza is an important symbol as it represents hope and comfort. Just as the ship’s passengers feel hopeful that they may survive the horrible storm, the persona is hoping that they will make it through the difficult times.
The mention of the Dakota in the fifth stanza is a reference to a real battleship used in the Second World War. It endured many years of storms and naval attacks. Unlike the Dakota, the ship in Play Crack the Sky gets destroyed by the storm and sinks to the bottom of the sea. The metaphor Lacey creates allows the audience to know the feeling of misery. A captain devotes his life to his vessel, “They say that the captain stays fast with the ship through still and storm,” and when the storm proves stronger than the ship, the commander’s emotions become unbearable. He will die with honour and pride. Like the captain, when the relationship sinks, the persona is left disoriented and in distress. He cannot help but piece together his shattered heart and move on.
The last two stanzas of the lyrical poem define the end of the relationship. The two lovers are no longer together and the persona is left angry and confused. He needs the comfort in knowing that his old love felt the same, “Calm me and let me taste the salt you breathed while you were underneath.” The “salt breathed” refers to the tears that the girl cried soon after the relationship was ended. The persona explains that the words, I love you, meant so much more than he thought they ever could. Now that he has lost his girlfriend he realizes what he had and what he will miss. As the couple is separated by the relationship’s funeral, the persona explains, “I need you like water in my lungs.” Even though he is still upset, he realizes that he does not need her anymore and can rise above the limits that were put upon him, compared to water in the lungs that pushes one down.
In this expression of loss and sorrow, Jesse Lacey uses many metaphors to explain the emotional stress that he has experienced. Lacey compares how one feels when a relationship ends to the destruction of a ship due to a storm. This approach allows the audience to relate the chaos and pain that is felt as a ship sinks to the end of a relationship that has experienced a storm of it’s own. The audience is able to identify and understand this lyrical poem more fully after analyzing it closely. Just as they did in this song, metaphors help the audience associate with any form of literature.
Metaphor - The Key to The World Around Us
A metaphor is an expression which describes a person or object in a way by referring it to something which possesses similar characteristics to provide a greater understanding of that person or object. Northrop Frey mentions that, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it." By comparing the definition of a metaphor and its stated purpose, provides a better understanding of how the two are true. Ultimately, a metaphor is used to provide the human mind with a greater understanding of something to which is has not seen before, “…what goes on outside of it.” The motive for metaphor is to associate the human mind with something it has not seen before, hence why this something is compared to another something to which the mind has formal knowledge of. A common use of metaphors is to describe human emotions, such as love, hate, betrayal, embarrassment, etc. Metaphors are used to show the mind what is felt through these emotions or to compare what it has accepted as feelings to what someone else accepts these feelings to be. Love is said to have no formal definition, therefore the mind compares it to other things that are seen and felt, which helps humans to establish their set meaning of love.
"Again And Again" - Jewel
Listen dear
I need you to hear.
I cannot disappear
I've tried again and again and again.
I know we said
That we'd give up
You said we'd had enough
Again and again and again.
But you, you're always on my mind.
It's like this all the time.
Say it's cause you're mine
All mine...
And if you will, I will
Try to let it go.
And if you try, I'll try
Try to let it show us the way
'Cause love is here to stay
Just look me in the eye
This is do or die
And I will stay in love
'Till you say enough
There is no giving in
There is no giving up in love.
Walk down the street
Stare at lots of things
The fast and steady streams
Again and again and again.
Do what I should
Try to stay busy
Your face is all I see
Again and again and again.
But you, you're always on my mind.
It's like this all the time.
Say it's cause you're mine
All mine...
And if you will, I will
Try to let it go.
And if you try, I'll try
Try to let it show us the way
'Cause love is here to stay
Just look me in the eye
This is do or die
And I will stay in love
'Till you say enough
There is no giving in
There is no giving up in love.
Like a movie I once saw
In the darkness I recall
Feeling the beauty and the pain
And when you call my name
Say you feel the same.
Cause' if you will, I will
Try to let it go
And if you try, I'll try
Try to let it show.
And if you will, I will
Try to let it go
And if you try, I'll try
Try to let it show us the way
'Cause love is here to stay
Just look me in the eye
This is do or die
And I will stay in love
'Til you say enough
There is no giving in
There is no giving up in love
In love, in love
We're in love
I cannot disappear...
I've tried again and again and again...
Jewel. "Again and Again." Goodbye Alice in Wonderland. Warner,2006.
I have decided to use one of my favourite female artists, Jewel, for this assignment. The song, Again and Again, is full of metaphors which are used to display the theme of this song, and to help the mind grasp the concept of love. The theme of this song is that no matter what you do, love cannot just disappear. Jewel sings about how she has tried to leave her love alone, but she cannot just disappear. In the third stanza, she sings, “But you, you're always on my mind. /It's like this all the time,” in which she is saying that she is thinking about her love all the time and that’s the reason she cannot just leave. In the chorus she sings, “This is do or die,” which does not literally imply that she is suicidal, but that there is one last chance left to make something happen out of their love, and that after this, it may simply just die. In the chorus she also states that, “There is no giving in /there is no giving up in love,” which helps us to comprehend that if you’re in love and there is something wrong, don’t just give up but try to fix things because love is special and hard to find so make the most of it.
In the ninth stanza, Jewel moves on to comparing love to a movie she once saw, “Like a movie I once saw/In the darkness I recall/Feeling the beauty and the pain.” I think that this is one of the main metaphors in the song as it shows what love is truly like. Love is not always rainbows and butterflies and sometimes there is pain, but through the good times and the bad (darkness), you can always feel love.
Through metaphors, the human mind is able to relate to experiences it has not gone through. Metaphors give the mind a better understanding of the world around it, and they relate it to something the mind has already gone through. Without metaphors, the human mind would only know about situations and emotions it has experienced, but not about ones that it hasn’t. In short, we would be missing out on the entire world around us.
A granted metaphor, a granted vision
I will regard a metaphor as a visual stimuli or an optical illusion that represents what is perceived in a way different from the way it is in reality. That could have been a thought Wallace Stevens tossed back and forth as he defined the man’s need to associate metaphors with his environment. This idea comes up in The Educated Imagination, where Northrop Frye reveals that Wallace Stevens in fact has considered that the human motive for metaphor is a concrete desire to associate, and identify the human mind with what transpires outside of it.
It is probably safe to assume that mankind will continuously use metaphors to describe the beautiful and the dreadful occurrences external of our vulnerable minds. My personal choice for a poetic example of Wallace Stevens’ idea is “Black black heart” by David Usher. To fathom the mortal’s motive for metaphors and the visual intentions of “Black black heart”, the metaphors shall be extracted and broken down to pieces where the audience can see the direct relation between the metaphor and the real world illustrated by the artist. In this case, the world depicted by David Usher in “Black black heart” is compressed with corruption, losing grip of reality and falling into the society’s trends. Now is not true that nations worldwide are struggling with corruption, people giving up hope and following their shallow desires? The human lust for power, diamonds, and sex brings upon a possessed state of mind upon the man where he cannot discern from his evil actions which have become pleasures and tortures, “ All these blessings all these burns/I’m godless underneath your cover/Search for the pleasure search for the pain”. If the man falls into the society’s trends, he will worship the corporations and they will rot his soul, rendering him faithless, godless. To end the first stanza, the last two lines depict a man engulfed and endlessly falling in the world of suffering but he unfolds a flag as a symbol of hope and resurrection from the evils within the helpless nation, “In this world now I am undying/I unfurl my flag my nation helpless”.
The second stanza, the chorus, speaks in reference to the tainted heart that constantly tempts the mind, to satisfy own vile desires which consequently cause agony and depression, “Black black heart why would you offer more/Why would you make it easier to satisfy/ I’m on fire I am rotting to the core”. “I’m eating all your kings and queens/All your sex and your diamonds,” the metaphor for consumption of kings, queens, sex, and diamonds does not refer to physically eating those things but rather that man can be so shallow that if he is presented with the tiniest glimpse of attaining power of a king, beauty of a queen, fulfilling sexual desires and acquiring money in such value as of diamonds, he will grab on to them and never let go, hence “eating them”.
The metaphors in the third stanza indicate a changed persona as the man begins to have thoughts of revelation, “As I begin to lose my grip/On these realities your sending/Taste your mind and taste your sex,” this indicates that he wants to reject the presented “reality” of the shallow, desire filled mentality and break free. In the sixteenth line, “I’m naked underneath your cover,” the man has turned from godless to naked, so this can be thoughts as return to faith and since he was so deeply engulfed in the temptations that his soul had to be completely renewed, thus it is naked. The last three lines of the third stanza portray the humans fighting against the influences and the temptations, “Covers lie and we will bend and borrow”. “With the coming of the sign,” shows that there is somewhat of a sign or even a messiah leading us away from the corruption. Finally, the last line of the third stanza can be a metaphor for the idea that even if we have a strong force behind us, it will still be a rigorous battle against temptations.
In the end, the chorus is repeated to solidify the corruptions man faces and has to fight off or surrender to. The aspects that go on outside the human mind in this song by David Usher are the lust for power, hunger for money, which all in the end lead to corruption and losing the strive to fight for morals and reasons. In the end, becoming one with the mob, this can be taken back to The Educated Imagination, where Northrop Frye specifically talks about standing out against the mob. Still, the audience associates and identifies the song as melancholy because it dwells on “rotting to the core”, which signifies internal corruption. Therefore, for this particular song, the motive for metaphor has been to grant us a vision where we can clearly see the human desires and temptations that we will never be able to get past since man will always search for pleasure and that easy way out.
The Sunset of Life
The human life is a struggle. It fights with its self to gain a foothold in what we have crated in the western world. One of the ways that people get a grasp on reality is the use of metaphor in poetry. Wallace Stevens say that metaphor “is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it”. We see this as struggle for the human mind to cope with what we have done it, an inner struggle. One example to can see the use a metaphor in poetry, or song, is the song “Rooftops” by Lostprophets. The song can be said describes what is being done in the mind, in this heavily illusionary world.
When our time is up
When our lives are done
Will we say we've had our fun?
Will we make a mark this time?
Will we always say we tried?
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
This is all we got now
Everybody scream your heart out.
All the love I've met
I have no regrets
If it all ends now, I'm set
Will we make a mark this time?
Will we always say we tried?
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
This is all we got now
Everybody scream your heart out.
Standing on the rooftops
(Wait until the bombs drop)
This is all we got now
(Scream until your heart stops)
Never gonna regret
(Watching every sunset)
We'll listen to your heartbeat
(All the love that we found)
Scream your heart out
Scream your
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
Standing on the rooftops
Everybody scream your heart out.
This is all we got now
Everybody scream your
-Lostprophets
This song we can see the struggles of the mind to cope with the real world. In the first stanza, you can see the struggle of a person at their end, thinking, have they really done enough in this world. The questions that the person poses, like “Did we have our fun” is a metaphor for have we done everything we really wanted to in life, is it complete. The core of the song deals with the mind just letting it all out. Sometimes, we cannot stand looking at the same thing, or people acting a certain way. Eventually the pressure becomes too much, and is realised, and in this case, screaming. In the third and forth stanza, we see the person has clearly came to terms with him/her self, realizing that they have done all they could have, and accepts it something that happens only to few, as when confronted with death, or something equally as tragic, the human mind shuts down, and becomes incapable of making complex thoughts. The rest of the song carries this metaphor of regaining the persons thoughts, having a realization that their life truly good, and the song ends with a fade that reinforces the point of human understanding the unknown.
In life, it is a struggle to have something to associate with something. Either it be a sports team, or even with the unknown, we all have that primeval craving to be with others. This song is just but one of many examples showing such a struggle, as throughout history, people have wrestled with the same emotions and feelings. The only difference, however minute, is that the way we convey that feeling.
J. Marques’ metaphors
In physical, mental and spiritual experiences of human there is diversity of emotions, that sometimes we wish that experience or feeling to last forever. Through phenomenal world of literature, human are able to express this feelings in different artistic forms like poem, play and songs. For them to express their feeling according to the branches of living, they use metaphors to manifest their moral sensitivity. Metaphors is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object. The aim of metaphor is to show how thing that are not alike in most ways are comparable in one Important ways.
"Before I Was Myself, You Made Me, Me"
Before I was myself you made me, me
With love and patience, discipline and tears,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,
Allowing me to sail upon my sea,
Though well within the headlands of your fears.
Before I was myself you made me, me
With dreams enough of what I was to be
And hopes that would be sculpted by the years,
Then bit by bit stepped back to set me free,
Relinquishing your powers gradually
To let me shape myself among my peers.
Before I was myself you made me, me,
And being good and wise, you gracefully
As dancers when the last sweet cadence nears
Bit by bit stepped back to set me free.
For love inspires learning naturally:
The mind assents to what the heart reveres.
And so it was through love you made me, me
By slowly stepping back to set me free.
J. Marques
Before I was myself, by J. Marques is one of my favorite and most common one. I am using this to show how metaphors make writing more interesting. The poem is about a boy raised by his father, he become a successful man because of the disciplines and love that his father had given to him. The author (J. Marques) uses metaphor “ allowing me to sail upon my sea” not to describe how the boy was left alone to sail, but to narrate how his father taught him to be a gentleman , and to be responsible for whatever choices he made on his own. The sea can represent unbalance situations. At the beginning of the second stanza “dream enough of what to be” show that he admire his father, his dream is to be like his father, a man with love, and patience, discipline and tears.
J. Marques’ description of his father in the fourth stanza “ relinquishing your powers gradually, to let me shape myself among my peers” describe his father as a potent man who surrender everything that he has, to build his son’s life. “ To let shape myself among peers” this is my favorite because is a simple metaphor; all J Marques is describing is how his father taught him to search for one’s dream and characterize that dream, how to pursue your heart desire; not what someone want for you but what you want for yourself. This stanza express how grateful his father was to him.
Metaphor are the most effective way to understand and experience one thing on the basis of something else, it help to understand things in your own way. Before I was myself is a powerful poem with a persuasive meaning. José Oscar D’ Almeida Marques uses basic metaphors to help the reader feel what he is feeling in different ways. Without Metaphor the reader cannot relate to the poem. They need metaphor to see every angle of the poem.
The Mind and Metaphor
Literature as we know it today is filled with metaphors. Whether it is in a poem, piece of writing, or song, we are surrounded by metaphors. As Frye says, the poet’s job is not to tell us what happened, but what happens. Similarly, in Northorp Frye’s discussion on “The Motive for Metaphor”, he concludes by saying, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it” (Frye). In the poem “I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud” by William Wordsworth, Wordsworth uses personification, imagery, symbols, and metaphors to depict his poem, and identify the human mind to what goes on outside of it.
“I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD”
William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850)
I Wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
There are many poetic devices in this poem that are used to connect the human mind to what goes on outside of it. The first thing noticeable in this poem is the metaphors and similes Wordsworth uses. The wandering cloud is being used to compare the state of the persona’s wandering. Clouds are not necessarily lonely, but slowly wander around by themselves. This shows that the persona may be taking a walk to admire the scenery, and appreciating the sheer beauty of nature. Secondly, in the second stanza Wordsworth uses another simile to describe the number of daffodils, and how far they stretched out. Evidently, there are very many daffodils as there are very many starts in the sky. These similes show the human mind identifying with nature. The beauty of the daffodils makes the persona want to stop and look around, ultimately connecting the mind to the metaphor. Imagery and personification are also evident in the poem. In the first stanza, Wordsworth states that the daffodils, which have been given human qualities to help describe them, sway in the breeze. Finally, the first four stanzas play on sight imagery, as there are vivid depictions of the daffodils in the valley.
With all these images and metaphors, readers are able to see what the flowers really represent. Frye says that once anyone is placed in literature, they are taken over by literature. Once the daffodils were placed in the poem, they became poetic daffodils- they become a symbol. In the last stanza, we learn that the lonely man in this poem is living in solitude, and finds solace in the daffodils. The daffodils become his friends, and when he needs to, he is able to look and see his friends, and remember them. This shows that the man is enjoying the image, because it makes his life of solitude so much easier.
William Wordsworth’s poem is a prime example of metaphors found in literature. Wordsworth’s poem helped the human mind associate and identify with what goes on outside of it. In this poem, the man was able to take solace from the daffodils in his life of solitude. The metaphors were used to describe the beauty of the daffodils and how they made the man feel happy. The images used in the poem show how a man can become happy from such simple things. In this case, the daffodils were used to make the man happy, whenever he really needed it. William Wordsworth’s poem shows that metaphors indeed relate the human mind to what goes on outside of it.
The aim of literature is to help better know and express ourselves, but when rhythm, tone and instrumental layering are introduce, the semantics take on new meanings and evoke new emotions. Metaphors are another way of getting a point across, in a way differing from the boring literal sense of the phrase or term. Northrop Frye, in The Educated Imagination, claimed that “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it” (Frye). The best examples of metaphor come from poetics, as it is generally accepted that poems are too short for the author not to be alluding to something in every line, and that nothing in poetry is filler. The same can be said about music, and thusly, many prime examples supporting Stevens’ and Frye’s theory come from music. An issue that we as a people do not understand is how we can be so savage, and put on blinders to the effect that we are having on the people. Through the song “Celebration Guns” by Stars, the band tries to get across why we do these things, not justifying them, but trying to explain why.
“Celebration Guns” – Stars
So tomorrow there will be another number
For the one who had a name
A desert wind and a perverse desire to win
History buried in shame
Are those beating drums
Celebration guns
The thunder and the laughter
The last thing they remember
(x2)
And then the next day
How will you know your enemy
By their colour or your fear
One by one you can cage them
In your freedom
Make them all disappear
600, 66, hundred, 60 days
two guards, one uncharged
this morning paper's ink stains my fingers
my hands go darker every day
Are those beating drums
Celebration guns
The thunder and the laughter
The last thing they remember
(x4)
Goodnight, sleep light, stranger (x3)
Stars. "Celebration Guns." Set Yourself on Fire. Arts and Crafts ,2005.
The direction in which the song is going is prevalent through the first two lines. The meaning in those lines being the devaluation of human life. The song is a political commentary on the US Naval Base “Guantanamo Bay”, and the section of it where they keep prisoners. The inhumanity of this base is well known across the world, and President George Bush is under extreme scrutiny by the entire world because of the torture that happens there. But as with all art, its meaning is never this specific. It can be seen as a general statement towards the act of war and the greed of men.
Stars covers a lot of what it means to be scared in “Celebration Guns”, and how the “need” for information and land can supersede the basic needs of a human being. The song also makes a reference to racial profiling, “How will you know your enemy, by their colour or your fear?”, and this can be taken as meaning that that when we are scared, our first instinct is to put a face to this fear and cast blame on the easiest target. What more prevalent difference between us and our “enemies” is there than skin colour? There is a need in politics to step back and see people as people, and nothing less than that.
Another injustice in times of war and terror is our nasty habit of using people as statistics. “So tomorrow there will be another number, for the one who had a name.” Political language is used to its fullest potential when it comes to desensitizing people to events that should be seen as tragedies, but instead are seen as “necessary measures”, or done for “the betterment of the state”.
Through this wariness of political strife and social injustices, Stars creates a song which is deeply livid in metaphor. Through the metaphors of cages, numbers and others, it gets a very important point across, and also has musical merit.
The Only Hope for Identification
Literature uses many different devices that can be used in many different settings in order to relate, distinguish, and compare one object to another. One of these devices, or figures of speech, is a metaphor. Wallace Stevens gives an excellent definition of a metaphor when he says that the motive for metaphor is to associate and identify the human mind with what goes on outside of it. Any piece of literature containing metaphors is making the attempt to relate the human mind to what goes on outside of it.
“Only Hope”
There's a song that's inside of my soul
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold
But You sing to me over and over and over again
So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands
and pray to be only Yours
I pray to be only Yours
I know now you're my only hope
Sing to me the song of the stars
Of Your galaxy dancing and laughing
and laughing again
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that You have for me over again
So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope
I give You my destiny
I'm giving You all of me
I want Your symphony
Singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs I'm giving it back
So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope
Performed by Mandy Moore, written by Jon Foreman (member of Switchfoot).
The song “Only Hope” is one that is filled with metaphors. These metaphors help the listener envision what the song is regarding. The first metaphor comes as the first line of the song, “There's a song that's inside of my soul,” and it allows the listener to picture a song inside of this persona’s soul. The line, however does not actually mean this, it is a metaphor. Metaphors are not meant to be taken literally, if they were then most poems, songs and some novels would not make any sense. The third line in the first stanza is also a metaphor, “I’m awake in the infinite cold,” again, if one was to take this line literally, it would mean the persona is awake in the endless cold. This line is referring to being conscious during a time of difficulty, and not to being freezing.
The chorus can be interpreted literally, or as a metaphor. Metaphorically speaking, I personally believe the chorus to mean that the persona in the song is beginning to slow down and let whatever is supposed to happen, happen, “So I lay my head back down
/And I lift my hands/ and pray”. The third stanza includes personification, another poetic device, along with metaphors; “Sing to me the song of the stars,” this line can also be interpreted in different ways. I believe “the song of the stars” to be something that the persona is familiar with, whether it be a song or a story of some sort, that is of some comfort. The next line, “Of Your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again,” enables the listener to picture galaxies laughing and dancing, this personification compliments the stanza’s metaphors perfectly.
The fifth stanza’s metaphors can vary in meaning depending on the type of person that is listening and critiquing them. The third and fourth lines, “I want Your symphony/ Singing in all that I am/ At the top of my lungs,” lets the listener visualize an amazing symphony. Whether this is meant to be taken literally or not, it symbolizes something as grand and magnificent as a symphony in the middle of a spectacular performance. Depending on how the listener perceives this metaphor it still implies something of great significance.
Taking “Only Hope” as an example, metaphors truly aid people when reading, writing and listening to new literature. Even if we do understand or already know about the subject being read or heard, looking at it in a new light will allow a better understanding and a deeper knowledge. Metaphors then, are one of the ways humans relate what they feel inside to what is happening on the outside, thus allowing enhanced comprehension when viewing any piece of literature.
(http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/mandymoore/onlyhope.html)
Meanings in Metaphors
Humans often have trouble expressing what they feel and therefore use metaphors to help express these feelings by putting them into different contexts that relate to the outside world. Northrop Frye explains how this is true, when he states, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it". Such metaphors are often overlooked; however it is clear that they can be found in song lyrics and poems frequently. The feelings that are expressed through song lyrics and poems, are often feelings shared throughout humanity, as most people experience feelings such as love, for example, in their lifetime.
“The Thunder Rolls” – Garth Brooks
Three thirty in the morning,
Not a soul in sight,
The city's lookin' like a ghost town
On a moonless summer night.
Raindrops on the windshield,
There's a storm moving in.
He's headin' back from somewhere
That he never should have been.
And the thunder rolls.
And the thunder rolls.
Every light is burnin'
In a house across town.
She's pacin' by the telephone
In her faded flannel gown.
Askin' for a miracle,
Hopin' she's not right,
Prayin' it's the weather
That's kept him out all night.
And the thunder rolls.
And the thunder rolls.
(Chorus)
The thunder rolls
And the lightnin' strikes.
Another love grows cold
On a sleepless night,
As the storm blows on
Out of control
Deep in her heart
The thunder rolls.
She's waitin' by the window
When he pulls into the drive
She rushes out to hold him
Thankful he's alive
Through all the wind and rain
A strange new perfume blows
And the lightnin' flashes in her eyes
And he knows that she knows
And the thunder rolls
And the thunder rolls
*chorus*
She runs back down the hallway
To the bedroom door
She reaches for the pistol
Kept in the dresser drawer
Tells the lady in the mirror
He won't do this again
Cause tonight will be the last time
She'll wonder where he's been
Brooks, Garth. “The Thunder Rolls.” The Hits. Capitol,1994.
I chose this song, because when I was younger, I listened to a lot of Garth Brooks’ tapes and CDs. When I was little, I had most lyrics memorized, but really not much of a clue what they meant. This is why I thought it would be interesting to go back and actually look into the lyrics to figure out what they were about. Through the help of understanding metaphors more clearly, I can now see what Garth Brooks is portraying in the song, The Thunder Rolls.
The song, as a whole, is telling the story of how a husband is cheating on his wife. As the story progresses, the thunderstorm develops, showing how, in the song, the husbands cheating is actually the thunderstorm. This is relating ‘the human mind (cheating), with something that goes on outside of it (thunderstorm).
There are several metaphors found throughout the song, one of them being, “The city's lookin' like a ghost town”, because the city is not actually a ghost town, but it is the wife’s empty home that is lonely without her husband. This line is found in only the first verse of the song, and sets the mood. The storm starts with, “raindrops on the windshield” which describe how the wife is beginning to realize what her husband may be doing. The wife’s suspicions progress as the storm does.
My personal favorite metaphor is in the chorus, “Deep in her heart / The thunder rolls.” This line is not literally saying that thunder is rolling in her heart, but that she is nervous to find out what her husband, who she loves, is doing. Her love for her husband is symbolized by the heart, and the thunder rolling symbolizes her uneasiness about the situation.
By the end of the song, the storm has progressed from, “raindrops on the windshield”, to ‘lightening flashing in her eyes’. This shows how the wife went from relatively calm and suspicious, to (when she finds out the truth), out of control, just as the storm did.
I think Garth Brooks does a good job at, expressing the women’s feelings through another source in this song, because the whole song is really a metaphor, describing how the women feels with the weather conditions. I believe that this is exactly what Northrop Frye was talking about when he stated, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it", this definition has helped me to understand the meaning of a metaphor, and its importance in the English language.
Dallas's Motive for Metaphor
True human feelings cannot serve poetic justice simply by stating if you are happy or sad. Metaphors can give a true interpretation of how someone is feeling. Northrop Frye states that "the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it". This means that metaphors allow humans to understand the things that happen in life more clearly. They accomplish this by teaching you things by identifying the metaphor with the things you already know. Metaphors can be used for anything, in this case they are used in a song about heartbreak and all of the painful things that come with love.
Dallas Green – Like Knives
Your words are like knives
They peel my skin and pierce my soul
Your body will burn tonight
Though your heart may still remain cold
And I will blame myself
And I will blame myself
For holding onto what i hoped would keep you by my side.
I will blame myself
The sheets are stained with
Memories of your soft kiss
Now this is all I have
Paper and pen to remember you with
And I will blame myself
And I will blame myself
For Holding onto what I hoped would keep you by my side
I will blame myself
Can I have you?
Can I have you?
Can I have you?
Can I have you?
I decided to choose one of my favorite songs, “Like Knives” by Dallas Green. This song presents beautiful sounding guitar and it has many meaningful metaphors. This song is about heartbreak and the pain of missing somebody that you love. The name itself is a metaphor. Dallas Green compares the way he feels to the physical pain of a knife. He is not actually being hurt by a knife, but he is saying how the emotional pain he feels is to a high extreme, just like being hurt by knives. The song features many more metaphors to help understand the way he feels.
Dallas Green really stresses how bad it feels to have your heart broken with the metaphors he uses in the first stanza. Another reference to the pain of heartbreak is in the line “They peel my skin and pierce my soul”. Dallas explains that he wants his memories of this girl to be burned because of the things she did to him. This is evident with the line, “Your body will burn tonight/Though your heart may still remain cold”. Her body is not actually burning, nor is her heart cold. He explains metaphorically that the things she did to him were rude, mean, and terrible, thus making her heart cold.
There is an emotional shift from angry to depressed from the first stanza to the third. Dallas no longer talks about how harsh the girl was to him, but how much he misses her and wants her back. Dallas metaphorically explains how he misses her with the line “The sheets are stained with/Memories of your soft kiss” The sheets are not actually stained, but what he depicts is that there are memories attached to them. Throughout the rest of the song, he keeps singing “Can I have you?” clearly showing that he wants her back.
The metaphors used in this song help the listener identify themselves with how he is actually feeling. There is a much clearer meaning with these metaphors because you can identify yourself with these feelings from what you already know. If the meaning was just told in the form of “I feel sad because of a breakup”, it would not have the deep meaning that it has with the use of metaphors.
Blue Rodeo- Metaphor
Humans are capable of feeling many different emotions at different times in their life. To express these emotions to other people, or to themselves, they use various literary pieces. These literary pieces include poems, novels, plays, or songs, and they all help the audience understand about the feelings humans experience in our lives. One of the very commonly used literary devices is a metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to refer one object to another, in order to suggest a similarity. Northrop Frye brings up a very important point when he says, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it". The whole idea of a metaphor is to make the reader or audience more aware and familiar of an idea; based on the fact that human’s are apprehensive to events that happen outside their mind and beyond their control.
5 Days in May
They met in a hurricane
Standing in the shelter out of the rain
She tucked a note into his hand
Later on they took his car
Drove on down where the beaches are
He wrote her name in the sand
Never even let go of her hand
Somehow they stayed that way
For those 5 days in May
Made all the stars around them shine
Funny how you can look in vain
Living on nerves and such sweet pain
The loneliness that cuts so fine
To find the face you've seen a thousand times
Sometimes the world begins
To set you up on your feet again
It wipes the tears from your eyes
How will you ever know
The way that circumstances go
Always going to hit you by surprise
I know my past
You were there
In everything I've done
You are the one
Looking back it's hard to tell
Why they stood while others fell
Spend your life working it out
All I know is one cloudy day
They both just ran away
Rain on the windshield heading South
She loved the lines around his mouth
Sometimes the world begins
To set you up on your feet again
It wipes the tears from your eyes
How will you ever know
The way that circumstances go
Always going to hit you by surprise
I know my past
You were there
In everything I've done
You are the one
Rodeo, Blue. Five Days in July. 26 Oct. 2007. www.bluerodeo.com/music
I decided to use a classic Canadian song to describe an author’s intendment of using a metaphor. Blue Rodeo is singing about a young couple that got together for 5 days in May and stayed together for the rest of their life. When Blue Rodeo says in the first stanza “they met in a hurricane”, they do not mean that the boy and girl met in the middle of a hurricane. Blue Rodeo is using a metaphor to describe that the couple met when they were both experiencing hard times and chaos in their lives. This metaphor helps the listener the mentally picture the chaos that the couples lives were in when they first met.
Blue rodeo sings in the third stanza, “always going to hit you by surprise”. This explains that life is very unpredictable and you never know when you will fall in love. This quote is a metaphor because life will never actually hit you. Blue Rodeo is explaining the feelings inside their head, which helps the reader comprehend love and what happens when you fall in love. In the fourth stanza it says, “Looking back it’s hard to tell why they stood, while others fell”. No one is actually falling, Blue Rodeo is using this metaphor to help the listener understand that when two people are in love they will stay together through anything when everyone else parts form one another.
Metaphors are a very effective way to help the listener comprehend what the song is about and what the meaning is behind it. Five days in May is a love song with a strong meaning. Blue Rodeo used various metaphors to help listener understand what love is all about in life. Without the use of metaphors in this song, the listener would not be able to fully understand what Blue Rodeo is trying to explain about love. The listener needs metaphors so that they can visualize and compare themselves to the song, so that they can fully understand the meaning.
Humans are made to communicate through metaphors
It is impossible to explain a certain emotion to someone who has not yet experienced the particular emotion you are explaining. Other times it is difficult to associate or understand the emotions of someone else. In literature and poems, the artist often uses metaphors and similes to help humans better understand and associate their thoughts/emotions with their atmosphere. Humans need to express their feelings, they are made for communicating. In the song “The World’s Greatest” by R. Kelly, metaphors are present and are needed to express emotions.
I am a mountain
I am a tall tree
Ohhh, I am a swift wind
Sweepin' the country
I am a river
Down in the valley
Ohhh, I am a vision
And I can see clearly
If anybody asks you who I am
Just stand up tall look 'em in the face and say
I'm that star up in the sky
I'm that mountain peak up high
Hey, I made it
I'm the worlds greatest
And I'm that little bit of hope
When my backs against the ropes
I can feel it
I'm the worlds greatest
I am a giant
I am an eagle
I am a lion
Down in the jungle
I am a marching band
I am the people
I am a helpin' hand
And I am a hero
If anybody asks you who I am
Just stand up tall look 'em in the face and say
This song demonstrates the power of the human imagination. A positive event has the narrator comparing himself to powerful figures. I choose this song because everyone in their lifetime achieves a goal that is important to themselves and therefore they feel they are the world’s greatest. The humblest man on the world may not say he felt as if he was the world’s greatest, but he would be lying to himself.
“I am a mountain” It is impossible for a human to be a mountain. That statement is a metaphor. Mountains are bigger then surrounding structures. “I am a mountain” is referring to feeling bigger then someone or something; not physically bigger, but mentally bigger. “I am a mountain” and “I am a tall tree” are the same metaphor; they mean the same things. This stanza represents the current power that the narrator feels.
The second stanza is the chorus. The chorus is often repeated in a song to subconsciously help remember what the narrator is saying. The subconscious message in this chorus is hope. “I’m that star up in the sky/I’m that mountain peek up high” These 2 metaphors represent the same thing. We look up to stars and mountain peeks, and our imagination opens. Our imaginations allow us to hope. “I’m that little but of hope/When my backs against the ropes” The narrator is referring to a boxing match because when your up against the ropes, it is hard to get off them. Therefore the narrator represents hope.
The narrator represents hope in the third stanza, but in a different way. He explains how strong he is, “I am a giant/ I am an eagle/ I am a lion/Down in the jungle” A giant, eagle, and lion are dominant animals/species; and all 3 would be powerful figures in the jungle. The narrator has become even more powerful in this stanza, “I am a marching band/I am the people/I am a helpin’ hand/And I am a hero” The narrator has not physically transformed into anything. Marching bands traditionally were used in warfare to intimidate the opponent. The narrator does not represent war but represents the power and intimidation of having a marching band.
Imagine this song, without metaphors. There would be no song, just like every other piece of literature and poetic sources. Every emotion that a human experiences would have to be compared to a past event. This is why metaphors help humans to understand and associate their thoughts/emotions with their atmosphere. If a human could not relate their thoughts and emotions with the atmosphere then their thoughts and emotions would be kept personal. The use of metaphors proves humans are made to communicate.
R KELLY LYRICS. A-Z Lyrics. 28 Oct 2007 http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rkelly/theworldsgreatest.html.
And she’s buying a stairway to heaven
A metaphor is literature that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is more commonly known as a rhetorical trope that your unconscious mind should be able to observe when an artist writes one subject that correlates with another subject. This is evident in poetry and used in many types of writing because it helps enhance the description of the first subject. Metaphors can be recognized through other rhetorical concepts such as similes, allegories and parables. As stated by Northrop Frye in his famous The Educated Imagine, “It is not what you see, it is about what you make from what you see”.
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin is one example of literature that has its fair share of hidden meanings that you can become familiar with if you examine it more then once.
Theres a lady whos sure
All that glitters is gold
And shes buying a stairway to heaven.
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.
Ooh, ooh, and shes buying a stairway to heaven.
Theres a sign on the wall
But she wants to be sure
cause you know sometimes words have two meanings.
In a tree by the brook
Theres a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.
Theres a feeling I get
When I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees,
And the voices of those who standing looking.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me wonder.
And its whispered that soon
If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter.
If theres a bustle in your hedgerow
Dont be alarmed now,
Its just a spring clean for the may queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
Theres still time to change the road youre on.
And it makes me wonder.
Your head is humming and it wont go
In case you dont know,
The pipers calling you to join him,
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul.
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And shes buying a stairway to heaven.
It is obvious that this song resembles the end of one’s life and how there is always a chance to turn your life around for the better. The stairway to heaven, also known as the gate to God’s doors is where this woman wants to end up, but she isn’t confident that she has done enough good to be granted access to this pleasant place for life after death.
In the second stanza, people would normally assume that the “songbird who sings” was at ease, but if you did your research like me you’d realize that when a bird is panicked it tends to make a singing sound. In the song, this could reflect on how the individual who is coming close to her death is feeling.
In the third stanza, Led Zeppelin is relating smoke around trees and the voices of those standing to the feeling of lost hope. Yet, in the fourth stanza when the band states that a new day will dawn for those who stand long they are telling the audience that if you go with your heart and don’t follow temptation a new day will come for you and your happiness will be the laughter heard throughout the forest.
From the fourth to the sixth stanza it is said that “if we all call the tune, then the piper will lead us to reason”. In saying this Zeppelin explains that there are two pathways in life, the road of righteousness and the road of temptation and only you can choose your destiny and change your future for the better by appreciating God and obeying his values and beliefs.
Furthermore, the spring clean for the May queen signifies the end of all existence and finally to be the rock means to be committed and not to roll means not to avoid the bad you have done in your life but try to improve yourself so there is only good and limited bad.
Sailing Away With Metaphors
Metaphors are a way for the human mind to relate the outside world with its own ideas. This is how the imagination influences how we see the world, as anything we do in life can be paralleled with a metaphor to describe it. Metaphors not only make ideas easier for people to comprehend but they also expand on them, allowing limitless imaginative ideas to connect the mind to the physical world.
Metaphors are used throughout literature in plays, novels, poems, lyrics, as well as in everyday speech. An example of a metaphor is shown in the song “Come Sail Away” by the band Styx.
I'm sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea
I've got to be free, free to face the life that's ahead of me
On board, I'm the captain, so climb aboard
We'll search for tomorrow on every shore
And I'll try, oh Lord, I'll try to carry on
I look to the sea, reflections in the waves spark my memory
Some happy, some sad
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had
We live happily forever, so the story goes
But somehow we missed out on that pot of gold
But we'll try best that we can to carry on
A gathering of angels appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said
They said come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
I thought that they were angels, but to my surprise
They climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies
Singing come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Styx.”Come Sail Away”The Grand Illusion.A&M, 1977.
The metaphor in the song uses imaginative things like spaceships and angels to display the idea of a voyage of discovery. Much of literature is not to be taken literally, just as the figurative language of this song should not be either. A great example of a metaphor, “On board, I’m the captain, so climb aboard”, shows the persona as the captain of his “ship”. He is saying that he is in charge of his life and his journey toward knowledge and he is also inviting others to embark on their own journey. This use of metaphor helps encourage those listening receive the author’s intended message because they can use their imagination to relate.
Every aspect of an author’s piece of literature has an intended meaning. The “gathering of angels” and their “song of hope” are not simply fillers to make the song sound good or take up time. They are part of the arsenal of the author, his tools for creating a metaphor. The angels are the people in our lives who are there to offer words of encouragement on our own personal journey to enlightenment and sometimes the only thing keeping us going is their “song of hope”. Our imagination is what brings the metaphor and real life together so it can be interpreted and then undertaken by the reader or listener.
According to Wallace Stevens, the metaphor is a desire to associate, and finally identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it. The metaphor of the search for knowledge in “Come Sail Away” helps the human mind to associate and identify itself with its own journey and encourages the listener to “carry on” until the goal is reached. Without metaphors, literature would be unable to provide food for our hungry imagination and therefore deter the growth of it.
Metaphors in Mercury
Metaphors and music have gone hand in for years and have been an artists way of getting their true feeling across to their and away to express they way they feel. It is usually hard for anyone to express their true feeling and for a poet or artist to express them in a lyrical way is extremely difficult. By using metaphors they can almost paint a picture for their audience of what they feel and think. Even the simplest of songs hold metaphors in them. The Show Must Go on, by Queen holds a few metaphors in which Freddie Mercury expresses himself in his last years.
Empty spaces - what are we waiting for
Abandoned places - i guess we know the score
On and on
Does anybody know what we are looking for
Another hero another mindless crime
Behind the curtain in the pantomime
Hold the line
Does anybody want to take it anymore
The show must go on
The show must go on
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on
Whatever happens i'll leave it all to chance
Another heartache another failed romance
On and on
Does anybody know what we are living for
I guess i'm learning
I must be warmer now
I'll soon be turning round the corner now
Outside the dawn is breaking
But inside in the dark i'm aching to be free
The show must go on
The show must go on - yeah
Ooh inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on
Yeah oh oh oh
My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die
I can fly - my friends
The show must go on - yeah
The show must go on
I'll face it with a grin
I'm never giving in
On with the show
I'll top the bill
I'll overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the
On with the show
The show must go on
Queen. “The Show Must Go On”. Classic Queen.
The song and its title are misleading if you do not read into the deeper meaning of it. It can appear that the lead singer and the writer of the song, Freddie Mercury, is just singing about a the shows he does and that no matter what the show will not be delayed or stopped, but it will go on as planned. The lyrics are much more in depth once you begin to read the metaphors. The show must go on does not refer to just a rock show, rather its referring to Freddie Mercury’s life which was affected by aids and was now dying of. It meant that when he died he wanted everyone to still remember him as he was and for Queen and its fans to continue on without him, it was his way of saying that he did not want them to change even after his death
In stanza number six, the metaphor of “My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies”, I think refers to how Freddie thinks his soul will not be here for long but rather be flying away from us in his death and up to heaven or where ever it may go. Freddie is not avoiding the topic of death in the song but rather uses a metaphor like this to relate it and does an excellent job of explaining how his life will end but he will never be gone.
Also on Stanza 6 the line “Fairy tales of yesterday will grow but never die”, says how his legacy will go on even after his death comparing his life to a fairy tale in the way that it is always told and never forgotten. On stanza 4, lines 8 and 9 “Outside the dawn is breaking But inside in the dark i'm aching to be free”, Freddie describes his pain even in the best conditions. As the sun is rising he can only see darkness in the way he feels and just wants to be set free from the pain and heartache of knowing that death is immanent. The song is a way for Freddie to come to grips with his own death and a way of letting all his thoughts, feelings and emotions be let out and for him to let everyone know that he does not want them to grieve his death but rather remember him for what he was and what he will always be.
The reason I chose this I chose this song is because I find that it deals with a very difficult issue in a way that some people may not understand at first just by listening to the song once. If you listen to the song and listen to the metaphors carefully you can understand the message more clearly be able see the meaning behind the song.
In the book "The Educated Imagination " Northern Frye describes the mind as having three levels. The first level, known as the Level of Consciousness or Awareness, uses the language of nouns and adjectives to describe the way things seem to be. Northern Frye states that "the motive for metaphor according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate and finally, to identify the human mind with what goes on outside it." Familiarizing is what poets, writers and song artists do when they use metaphors in their poems, songs, and literary pieces, to describe their life experiences. By using a metaphor in their writings their audience can understand the resulting feelings from certain life experiences. Even though they might not have walked in the same shoes, by recognizing the sight, sound, smell, taste and touch of the experience can be assumed.
"911"
[Wyclef]
Yo, what up, this Wyclef with Mary J.
I serenade the girls with my accoustic guitar
You know what I'm sayin'?
Yo, fellas havin' problems with the chicks?
I want you right now to turn the lights down low
Pull your girl up next to you
I want you to sing this to her
If death comes for me tonight, girl
I want you to know that I loved you
And no matter how tough I wouldn't dare
Only to you I would reveal my tears
So tell the police I ain't home tonight
Messin' around with you is gonna get me life
But when I look into your eyes
(Man)You're worth that sacrafice
If this is the kind of love that my mom used to warn me about
Man, I'm in trouble
I'm in real big trouble
If this is the kind of love that the old folks used to warn me about
Man, I'm in trouble
I'm in real big trouble
I need y'all to do me a favor
Someone please call 911 (pick up the phone yo)
Tell them I just been shot down
and the bullet's, in my heart
And it's piercin through my soul (I'm losin blood yo)
Feel my body gettin cold
Someone please call 911 (pick up the phone yo)
The alleged assailaint, is five foot one
and she shot me through my soul
Feel my body gettin cold
[Mary J. Blige]
So cold
Sometimes I feel like I'm a prisoner
I think I'm trapped here for a while yeah yeah
(but I'm always right here with you girl)
And every breath I fight to take
Is as hard as these four walls I wanna break
I told the cops you wasn't here tonight
Messin' around with me is gonna get you life
Oh yeah, yeah
But everytime I look into your eyes
Then it's worth the sacrifice
[Wyclef]
If this is the kind of love that your mom used to warn you about
Mary, your are in trouble (I am in real Big Trouble)
You're in real big trouble ( Lord Knows I am In trouble)
If this is the kind of love that the old folks used to warn me about
(Everyday Everynight)I'm in trouble (I am in real Big Trouble)
I'm in real big trouble
You got anything to say, girl?
[Mary J. Blige]
Someone please call 911, yeah yeah (pick up the phone yo)
Tell them I just got shot down (Tell them i just got shot down)
And it's piercin through my soul (I'm losin blood yo)
Feel my body gettin cold
[Wyclef]
Someone please call 911 (can you do that for me)
The alleged assailaint, was five foot one
And she shot me through my soul (and he shot me through my heart)
Feel my body gettin cold
(He didn't care, he didn't worry, he didn't wonder..)
Wyclef and Mary J. Blige
I'm feelin you girl
I understand
[Mary J. Blige]
And you're doin, what you're doin, would you do it
and do it and do it and do it for me..
-Wyclef Jean and Mary J Blige-
This R&B track by Wyclef and Mary J
Blige is one that I personally like. Its about a love that is forbidden by the community, friends or family of both individuals. There are a couple of metaphors used in this song with the first one being a cop. With the love affair being compared to a committed crime, the first metaphor is located in the first stanza by using police to represent the people who disapprove of Mary J and Wyclef's love affair. In the fourth stanza, the four walls of a prison represent the confinement of Mary J Blige by being unable to have the relationship with her lover. Lastly, a third metaphor in the third stanza, is used in the representation of Wyclef's lover with an alleged assailant. The love of Mary J is something wants in his life. By the "cops" arresting them , the love of his girl has only backfired, making her the proven shooter of his heart.
The goal of a metaphor is to help the audience of literary pieces understand the feeling spoken of by the comparison between feelings from human experiences with the five senses of a human. In the song "911" the sense of touch ans sight is played with to create an image of the love between Mary J and Wyclef is like. In the third stanza when Wyclef says that "tell them I just been shot down and the bullet's, in my heart
And it's piercin through my soul" an imaginary picture of a crime scene is created in the mind audience. Although they weren't witnesses of the love affair, the pain Wyclef feels can be felt by imagining the pain that would result from a piercing bullet. The imprisonment can also be imagined by the four walls she uses to describe the entrapment she felt from being unable to have a relationship with the man she loves. By saying "And every breath I fight to take Is as hard as these four walls I wanna break, Mary J helps the audience to envision prison walls being pushed in an attempt to break them down. Not only is a picture created but the feeling of breaking four walls of a prison is felt by the audience.
In his book "The Educated Imagination" Northern Frye describes the world unknown by humans as objective and the world we desire as a home. As he points out that identification makes us feel good about something, it is realized that metaphors have a part to play in poems,songs and pieces of literature. A home being a place place where a sense of belonging is felt, metaphors make it possible for the audience to feel, see, hear smell and taste what a poet, song artist or writer is trying to say. The human mind being the place where all five senses are described by colour, shapes and textures, the external world apart from the mind is attempted to be understood. This proves that "the motive for metaphor according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside it." (Frye)
Works Cited:
*http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.
nsf/911-lyrics-Wyclef-Jean/9FE2B
FBD65C58E8348256960000A6EC8
Not A Pornographer - A Poet
In The Educated Imagination, Frye discusses in great detail the significance of metaphor in literature. He sums it up best when he says, "the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it". In every piece of literature there are metaphors that can change and shape the meaning that the author is trying to relate. Poetry is most commonly known for this. No matter what form it comes in, poetry is either chalked full of metaphors; there is one overriding metaphor that the poem is built around; or both. Because of this, the way the poem is understood depends fully on the way the reader interprets the author's meaning behind the metaphors used. In the song, Go Places, by The New Pornographers, there is a dominant metaphor that helps to shape the song and there are also several other metaphors used to form the overall denotation,
"Yes a heart will always go one step too far
Come the morning and the four corners I see
What the moral of the back story could be
Come with me, go places
And a heart will always stay one day too long
Always hoping for the hot flashes to come
For the glue to dry on our new creation
Come with me, go places
Come head on, full circle
Our arms fill with miracles
Play hearts, kid, they work well
Like classics play aces
Stay with me, go places
Once more for the ages
Yes a heart should always go one step too far
Come the morning and the day winding like dreams
Come the morning every blue shade of green
Come with me, go places
Come head-on, full circle
Our arms fill with miracles
Play hearts, kid, they work well
Like magic, play aces
Stay with me, go places
Once more for the ages
Come one now, come all ye
This story breaks free here
Tales from the back pages
From somewhere, Encida
Deus ex machina
Good morning, Christina
Come head on, full circle
Our path blocked but sure we'll
Make records, then set them
Make copies, win races
Stay with me, go places
Once more for the ages".
Although a female member of the band sings this song, it is written by a male, A.C. Newman. This love song is off of The New Pornographer’s newest album, "Challengers", and is about a man longing for his lover. Newman gives the heart a personification several times in this song - at the beginning of the first, second, and fourth stanzas. The first and fourth stanza both give the heart a personification of going "one step too far"(1,9), meaning that when a person is following their heart, they will always allow it to lead them somewhere they wouldn't have thought to go otherwise. The second stanza says that the heart "will always say one day too long"(5), which indicates that a person who is overcome with love will stick out a bad situation longer than they should. By using this metaphor centered on the heart, Newman is creating the common mind-set of a love song - longing and unshakeable affection. The phrases "come with me, go places"(4,8,18) and "stay with me, go places"(13,23,35) are also repeated several times throughout the song, which can be taken both literally and figuratively. Literally, the author wishes that his lover would accompany him wherever he chooses to go, and figuratively it could mean that he wants his lover to be able to be with him in any emotional, physical, or mental state. These specific phrases are ones that are essential in creating the overall meaning of the song. If either were missing the song would not have the same implications and connotation.
There are also several metaphors throughout the song that help to shape the general mood. In the second stanza, Newman writes, "For the glue to dry on our new creation"(7), which does not mean glue physically drying on a new construction, but the unmarked warmth of a new relationship taking full form and having the intentions to remain that way. The second line in the third stanza says, "Our arms fill with miracles"(10), which gives wonderful insight into the open-heartedness of new love. It leaves the reader or listener with the idea that when the lovers hold each other they see one another as a miracle. However the next line expresses the opposite and instead of commenting on the munificence of new love, it concentrates on how selfish one can be with another's heart, "Play hearts, kid, they work well"(11). Through this, Newman is articulating the simplicity of breaking another individual's heart if it is all for the sake of play. In the fourth stanza Newman uses a simile and says, "Come the morning and the day winding like dreams"(17), this line gives the impression that the days the persona spends with his lover wind on as if they are almost dream-like, commenting even further on the astounding experience that one has with new love. The last two stanzas are incredibly effective in wrapping up the whole experience that Newman is trying to express with this song. In saying, "Come one now, come all ye / This story breaks free here"(26-27), he is communicating that the story may end for the reader or the listener at that point, but goes on for the lovers. He uses the literary term "Deus ex machina"(30), which usually refers to an event that helps to bring the a story to it's completion, but usually does so in a way that is not pleasing for the reader. By using this term, Newman goes back to relating the situation in the song to a story, as he did a few lines prior. In the final stanza, Newman writes, "Come head on, full circle / Our path blocked but sure we'll / Make records, then set them"(32-34). This indicates that by their story coming "full circle", the lovers will be capable of sustaining the new-love feeling that they have throughout the song and although they may face obstacles along the way, they are willing to work through them, together.
Newman's work is a wonderful example of the human mind identifying the world outside of it through metaphor. In Go Places, he demonstrates that metaphors have an extraordinarily large roll in developing the meaning and mood behind any piece of literature. Newman uses both a predominant metaphor and several less prevailing metaphors throughout the song that are, together, equally important in moving the ideas that he wishes to relate to his audience. Regardless of the fact that different people may develop contradicting views on what a metaphor might mean in context, once all the metaphors are put together, they seem to work themselves out to form the larger point behind the work. Without metaphor in literature, it is incredibly likely that it would lack a great deal of vigor and an even larger amount of meaning.
Works Cited
New Pornographers, The. "Go Places". Challengers. Matador, 2007.
We all could use a Metaphor
Poetry is known to be about the writer’s experiences, feelings, and descriptions on the world. The writer expresses their experiences by creating interpretations using metaphors to give meaning and understanding to their poems. The use of metaphor, “according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes outside of it” (Frye). Aside from poets songwriters today incorporate metaphors into their songs by means of interpreting some kind of aspect or communicating a certain message. In John Mayer’s Stop This Train the song displays the use of metaphors by giving it meaning, associating it with the song, and making a connection to human emotion.
No I'm not color blind
I know the world is black and white
Try to keep an open mind
But I just can't sleep on this tonight
Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly won't someone stop this train?
Don't know how else to say it
I don't want to see my parents go
One generation's length away
From fighting life out on my own
Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly won't someone stop this train?
So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find away to say that life has just begun
Had a talk with my old man
Said “help me understand”
He said “turn sixty-eight”
“You'll renegotiate”
“Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
And don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train”
Once in a while when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
Till you cry when you're driving away in the dark
Singing
Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take this speed it's moving in
I know I can't
Cause now I see I'll never stop this train
The metaphor is identified clearly as throughout the song the line “Stop this train” repeats in the chorus. The train is emphasized interpreting a person’s journey through life expressed with concern and stress. Indeed the song shows life in the aspects “[…] of getting older” and “[…] fighting life out on my own” which refers to the metaphor and its representation of the constant changes in life. The train’s figurative meaning refers to life moving so quickly as the writer utters “ I can’t take the speed it’s moving in” making a metaphorical connection. The writer describes the train to be unstoppable as it keeps on moving, in the same way life is continuous and never still. For this reason the writer admits, “I know I can’t”, as the train is just impossible to stop. The metaphor is portrayed and described to be uneasy and uncomfortable. Similarly this relates to the worry and nervousness of growing up and experiencing the changes in life. Further the train also reflects the concerns of what may happen in the future and how complicated life may be. The metaphor in the song represents growing up and continuously progressing in life.
The writer, John Mayer uses the metaphor and associates it into the song. John narrates his own experiences to connect and give more meaning to the metaphor. The experiences and examples found in each verse builds structure into the song relating to the overall meaning. The song is filled with worry and anxieties leading to the fear of letting go of love ones. Mayer says, “Don’t know how else to say it, Don’t want to see my parents go”, revealing the thought of losing his own parents. Being scared of the fact of his parents passing away, there is no way of stopping it. It is an inevitable fact in life, which John knows but wishes it would not happen. The means of becoming older is also another concern he thinks about. John turns to his own father for advice and in response; ‘“You’ll renegotiate […] Don’t for a minute change the place you’re in”’, implying we can not stop life from happening. The advice given from John’s father is on the basis of his own experience being much older and sharing the same worries as well. John’s father tries to convince him to accept life for whatever situation your placed in since ‘“[…] we’ll never stop this train”’. Near the end of the song John realizes that even with the good moments in life they will not last forever. It relates to the advice his father gave him, as at the point of realization he sees that he cannot stop life from continuing, it is impossible. It becomes an epiphany as he realizes “[…] I’ll never stop this train” which results in a bittersweet understanding of life. All in all learning that life is not so simple and understanding the struggles we will face in life. The metaphor fits perfectly throughout the song. The verses depicting experiences reinforces the metaphor every time it repeats in the chorus. With every verse in the song it becomes more complex and deeper, giving a more figurative meaning to the train.
The reason for selecting John Mayer’s Stop This Train is because it has a universal appeal that can relate to anyone. I chose this song because it does reveal and describes human emotion in a lyrical way and by means of music. The tone of the song is very calm and mellow, which sets the mood of the song. The metaphor of the train is used to visualize and imagine the feeling of being on the train. The way the song and lyrics are structured together influence the listener to reflect and even find the meaning of the song. The connection to the human mind is found in the song in the means of understanding and accepting the many changes we face in life. Even during troubling times we as human beings sometimes want to “Stop this train” and not even face the realities of life. The way the song is written by John Mayer does not only appeal to a certain age group but to a bigger range. Young or old the song relates to the experiences of growing up either from the point of looking forward or looking back to the experiences. The aesthetics of the song presents a universal truth, a reality in life that comes with realization and acceptance. This is the reason why the metaphor of the train does appeal and relate to our human emotions.
The use for metaphors in songs like John Mayer’s Stop This Train gives meaning, understanding, and a way to express the human mind. Metaphors are still found to be the basis of poems or songs in which they are displayed, referred to, and expressed to giving an overall figurative meaning. It is what gives deeper meaning to understanding our emotions and an insight to our mind.
Work Cited
“Stop This Train.” Continuum. Perf. John Mayer. Album. Sony/ATV Tunes LLC., 2006
The Metaphor of Poetry
According to Northrop Frye in his fifth talk of the Educated Imagination, he states that poetry, the use of language used in some sort of pattern, is the most basic form of literature. However, most students, such as myself, often find poetry as one of the most challenging parts of the Secondary School English Curriculum because of our inability to identify a poem’s message due to its unique and seemingly complex usage of poetic devices, such as symbols or imagery. Fortunately, Northrop Frye offers some useful advice for poetry as he states in the Educated Imagination that, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it”, which emphasizes the importance of the knowledge of knowing that what is happening in a poem is not important as the literal image of the poem is only used to express the poet’s intention in human terms. By applying Northrop Frye’s advice towards imagery on a song, a common application of poetry, I expect to find success on identifying the lesson of the song “Waiting for the 7.18” by Bloc Party.
Waiting for the seven eighteen
January is endless
Weary-eyed and forlorn
The Northern Line is the loudest
Sitting in silence in bars after work
I've got nothing to add or contest
Can still kick a ball a hundred yards
We cling to bottles and memories of the past
(Give me moments)
Just give me moments (give me moments)
Not hours or days (give me moments)
Just give me moments (give me moments)
Grinding your teeth in the middle of the night
With the sadness of those molars
Spend all your spare time trying to escape
With crosswords and sudoku
If I could do it again
I'd make more mistakes
I'd not be so scared of falling
If I could do it again,
I'd climb more trees
I'd pick and I'd eat more wild
blackberries
(Give me moments)
Just give me moments (give me moments)
Not hours or days (give me moments)
Just give me moments (give me moments)
Let's drive to Brighton on the weekend [x4]
Let's drive to Brighton on the weekend [x4]
(http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blocparty/waitingforthe718.html)
Taking the first stanza of the song literally, the listener imagines a person taking a train to begin yet another day at work. However, recalling Frye’s advice, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it”, the image is not suppose to be taken literally, but as a way for Kele, the lead singer of Bloc Party, to express his knowledge to the audience. As a result, the train is not just a train, but can also represent life and through “January is endless/weary-eyed and forlorn”, emphasizes how dull life seems if you take life for granted and how imperative it is to acknowledge the wonders of life, which is exemplified in the end of the first stanza, “The Northern Line is the loudest”. From the first stanza to the second stanza, Kele continues his message of acknowledging the beauty of life as he compares this period of reflection with the time spent mulling over thoughts in a bar and claims that the best memories we often have in life are in our youth, “we cling to bottles and memories of the past”. From the third stanza, the chorus of the song, Kele says that our most cherished moments cannot not be measured in time but rather by how much of an emotional impact they are through, “not hours or days”, as well as the importance to look at life when he says, “give me moments”. During the fourth stanza, Kele visualizes the regret we have for not doing things in the past in the form of “grinding your teeth in the middle of the night/ with the sadness of those molars”, and how as humans we possess a tendency to escape from that feeling of regret with things that occupy our minds such as sudoku, “spend all your spare time trying to escape/ with crosswords and sudoku”. However, in the fifth and sixth stanza, Kele claims through his regret of not having climbed more trees or various memories of his youth, “If I could do it again/ I’d climb more trees/ and I’d pick and I’d eat more wild/ blackberries”, showing that everyone has a tendency to regret our past, but its important to not despair over our past and to instead make every moment a memorable one. By the eighth and final stanza of the song, Kele repeats “Let’s go to Brighton for the weekend”, which one can assume as a place where Kele has his fondest memories at, but also represents the importance and impact of our past and how we should all attempt to make our futures as fond as those of the past. As a result, by using Northrop Frye’s advice of realizing a metaphor is a way of identifying our thoughts with the things we are familiar with, poetry becomes less tedious and overwhelming.
I chose the song “Waiting for the 7.18” by Bloc Party because I had first heard the song from a Youtube video of a fan’s version of “Waiting for the 7.18”, and was impressed by the director’s ability to capture the song’s message with a different visual interpretation. The video had no footage of trains or wild blackberries, but instead captured the beauty of life in Paris through the everyday lives of Parisians whether it be going up an escalator, watching fast-forward the traffic in Paris at night, or of a vendor selling his wares. Due to the video’s ability to display the beauty of Paris through the normal lives of its people, I thought it appropriate to choose “Waiting for the 7.18” as the song strongly supports Frye’s advice of it is not what you see, but what it means.
“‘The Motive for Metaphor’ exemplifies the natural human instinct to define in order to make sense of the world around us.” This is apparent when we classify our experiences into categories, enabling others to easily relate and learn from our knowledge. Metaphors are commonly used to describe our experiences in life through many forms of literature. Since metaphors can describe one experience in terms of another, they specify and constrain the way we think of the original experience. As once stated by Northrop Frye, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it".
“The Gambler”
On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.
He said, "Son, I've made my life out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
so if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."
So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
When he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
chrousx3
-Kenny Rogers
This song, by Kenny Rogers is about a late night card game on a train. The persona exchanges some of his whiskey to an old man in exchange for some advice. Throughout this song, the game of cards is characterized as a metaphor for life. Kenny uses the metaphor, “you got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em”, in regards to people and situations you will encounter in life. You have to be able to determine people’s intentions and how they affect your life. If they are a negative influence on you, you have to know how to distance yourself from that person or else limit their role in your life. In any situation, you need to know when to stand your ground and when to back down.
In the third and fourth stanza, Kenny explains to us, “you never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.” What he is trying to get across to us is that you can not take a select fragment of your life and judge that experience in relevance to your life in its entirety. In order to observe your life as a whole, you have to reflect on the entire journey, the ups and downs and who you are because of them. Based on how you decide to live your life and the decisions you make along the way, all play a role in determining your fate. This is portrayed in the line “'cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser.” Overall, the gambler has learned that the trick to life is not the cards you have been dealt, but how you decide to play them. In life, anyone can be a “winner” or a “loser” depending on how they play their “cards.”
Metaphors are powerful writing tools. They can influence the meaning and importance of any experience that they are attached to significantly. Kenny Rogers uses metaphors in his song “The Gambler” to teach us a valuable life lesson; the decisions we make and the people we meet all take part in shaping our future and changing our lives. Interpreting this message through a game of cards makes it relatively simple for anyone to understand the essential message, and depicts how easy it is to transform your life through one decision.
Lynyrd Skynyrd flying free
Metaphors are commonly used to describe feelings that are indescribable. This tool of literature helps to expand the range of description that is put into literary creations. As Northrop Frye says in The Educated imagination, “the motive for metaphor, according to Wallace Stevens, is a desire to associate, and finally to identify, the human mind with what goes on outside of it.” This means that people try to describe their feelings by relating to the natural world around them. I chose to do “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Lynyrd Skynyrd uses metaphors to describe how free and unchangeable they are.
“Free Bird” –Lynyrd Skynyrd
If I leave here tomorrow
Would you still remember me?
For I must be travelling on, now,
'Cause there's too many places I've got to see.
But, if I stayed here with you, girl,
Things just couldn't be the same.
'Cause I'm as free as a bird now,
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I can't change.
Bye, bye, its been a sweet love.
Though this feeling I can't change.
But please don't take it badly,
'Cause Lord knows I'm to blame.
But, if I stayed here with you girl,
Things just couldn't be the same.
Cause I'm as free as a bird now,
And this bird you'll never change.
And this bird you can not change.
Lord knows, I can't change.
Lord help me, I can't change.
Lynyrd Skynyrd. “Free Bird”. Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd). MCA Records, 1973.
I have chosen the song “Free Bird” because it is an amazing song and is still very popular after thirty-five years. There is only one metaphor in this song and I believe it is one of the most important in all the songs I listen to. The metaphor is “’Cause I’m free as a bird now,” is about how free he is now and he feels like a bird in the wind. All birds, except penguins, have the freedom to leave the surface of our world and fly in the air without the aid of machines. It is this freedom, which is shared with insects and bats, which make birds the freest animals on the planet. Birds are also beautiful and graceful when they fly. Also whenever I think about truly being free I always think of a bird because of their ability to leave the ground for hours at a time and only come down when you are hungry, tired, or the weather is terrible.
This metaphor shows us the infinite extent of the freedom that the band felt at the time this song was written and the only way they could express it was by relating it to something closer to our understanding. Metaphors are a tool to make feelings we do not understand, understandable to our limited knowledge. It is with metaphors can we hope to understand human life by comparing to the natural world around us.
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