Figurative and Literal Meaning
BY:
GREG BAKOS
and
JARED JACOBS
Figurative vs. Literal
Definitions
 Literal
 Figurative
 What is the poem actually
 What the poem might be
saying.
 Very basic and not hard to
get at.
saying; hidden meaning.
 Some examples of
figurative languages are:
Metaphors (a comparison),
a simile (a comparison
using like or as),
Personification, and
Hyperboles
Figurative Language:
Similes: compare two
unlike objects using “like”
or “as”.
Metaphors: compare two
unlike objects.
Personification: when a
non-human object is given
human characteristics.
Hyperboles: clear,
unrealistic exaggeration.
Example:
The fox was like a
seasoned sniper when it
was stalking its prey; and a
voracious lion while it was
eating.
Example:
He is saying he is a different
from others and always has
been.
Does not really mean
passions come from a spring.
His passions come from a
different source that is
uncommon.
“Alone” by Edgar Allan Poe
From childhood's hour I have not
been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not
taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Figurative Meaning
Literal Meaning
Similes:
Metaphors:
Personification:
Hyperboles:
Figurative Meaning
Literal Meaning
 Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
beginning
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
Not realistic
:Hyperbole
The sky
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.
Similes:
Metaphors:
Personification:
Hyperboles:
The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore.
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Bibliography
DeMarco, Josheph. “Literal and Figurative”. Peomhunter.com.
N.d.Web. 17 March 2013.
Longfellow, Henry. “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls”. Poetry.org.
n.d.Web. 17 March 2013.
Poe, Edgar Allen. “Alone”. Poemhunter.com. n.d.Web. 17 March
2013.
Wilde, Oscar. “My Voice”. Poemhunter.com. N.d.Web. 17 March
2013.