 Figurative language is language used in writing to make it more expressive. It is not meant to be taken literally!
 Some different types of figurative language are: simile, metaphor, personification, and hyperbole.

 Simile is a comparison between two unlike objects using the words like or as.
 Ex. Her smile is as bright as the sun.

The Rhythm of Life by Edwin McCain
The rhythm of life
Heaven withstanding and smiling we're all swept away
The rhythm of life
Is not so demanding as some caught in narrows would say

Fragile as ships as we pass through
Gibraltar
The sirens have long given way
Dark as the murky graveyard of sailors
Whispering secrets told in the crashing waves

The beating of hearts
Set walls to trembling
The power of silence persuades
The stumbling feet
They stagger predestined
We all end up wild eyed and crazed

And from that madness
Most jaded of vision
Reflections of horror invade
Running and falling
Relinquish your venom
The antidote surely will cause your affliction to fade

How little we know of what we are blessed with
Our shimmering island it turns
How little we look at what we see clearly
Of tragedy's lessons not learned

Sleeping through classes
We'll make it up later
There's still so much time left to go
Misguided roses
We bloom in October
Emerging triumphant in time for the season's first snow

 Metaphor is a comparison between two unlike objects saying that one thing is the other.
 Ex. Her hair is silk.

I Am An Illusion by Rob Thomas
Take this confusion
Runnin’ round my head
Take back my unkind words
Lay that weight on me instead
I’m the place where everything turns sour
Where you gonna run to now

Wrong step
We got off track
We need someone to help us get back now
Worn thin
Awful state I was in
I believe I was losing me, now I’m found
I am found

I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion

I am the damage
I am the relief
Sometimes I’m people
I never hoped that I would be
If I take in whatever they turn out
What’s that gonna make me now
Don’t you understand

I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion

Wrong step
We got off track
We need someone to help us get back now
Worn thin
Awful state I was in
I believe they were fooling me
Now I’m down. Well, I am down

I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion
I’m not real anymore
I am an illusion

 Personification is giving human qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics to inanimate (non-living) objects.
 Ex. The wind sang as it blew through the trees.

Bold As Love by Jimi Hendrix
Anger he smiles towering in shiny metallic purple armor.
Queen jealousy, envy waits behind him.
Her fiery green gown sneers at the grassy ground.
Blue are the life giving waters taking for granted, they quietly understand.

Once happy turquoise armies lay opposite ready, but wonder why the fight is on.
But they're all, bold as love.
They're all bold as love.
They're all bold as love.
Just ask the Axis.

My red is so confident he flashes trophies of war and ribbons of euphoria.
Orange is young, full of daring but very unsteady for the first go
'round.

My yellow in this case is not so mellow.
In fact I'm trying to say it's frightened like me.
And all of these emotions of mine keep holding me from giving my life to a rainbow like you.

Well, I'm bold as love.
I’m bold as love.
Hear me talkin', girl.
I'm bold as love.
Just ask the Axis.
He knows everything.

 Onomatopoeia is the imitation of natural sounds in word form. They are words that sound like their meaning.
 Ex. Hiss! Buzz! Zip!

Onomatopoeia every time I see ya
My senses tell me hubba
And I just cant disagree
I get a feeling in my heart that I can’t describe

It’s sort of lub, dub, lub, dub
A sound in my head that I can’t describe
It’s sort of zoom, zip, hiccup, drip
Ding, dong, crunch, crack, bark, meow, whinnie, quack

Onomatopoeia in proximity ya
Rearrange my brain in a strange cacophony
I get a feeling somewhere that I can’t describe

It’s sort of uh, uh, uh, uh
A sound in my head that I can’t describe
It’s sort of whack, whir, wheeze, whine
Sputter, splat, squirt, scrape

Clink, clank, clunk, clatter
Crash, bang, beep, buzz
Ring, rip, roar, retch
Twang, toot, tinkle, thud

Pop, plop, plunk, pow
Snort, snuk, sniff, smack
Screech, splash, squish, squeek
Jingle, rattle, squeel, boing
Honk, hoot, hack, belch

 Repetition is the repeated use of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line or stanza. Repetition helps govern the rhythm of a poem
 Ex. Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream

When you’re dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part
You roll out of bed and down on your knees
And for a moment you can hardly breathe, wondering

Was she really here?
Is she standing in my room?
No, she’s not
‘Cause she’s gone, gone, gone, gone, gone

When you’re dreaming with a broken heart
The giving up is the hardest part
She takes you in with her crying eyes
Then all at once, you have to say goodbye, wondering

Could you stay, my love?
And will you wake up by my side?
No, she can’t
‘Cause she’s gone, gone, gone, gone, gone

Now do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?
Do I have to fall asleep with roses in my hand?

And would you get them if I did?
No, you won’t
‘Cause you’re gone, gone, gone, gone, gone

When you’re dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part

 Alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant.
 Ex. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

 Hyperbole is extreme exaggeration.
 Ex. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

I spent 20 years trying to get out of this place
I was looking for something I couldn’t replace
I was running away from the only thing I’ve ever known

Like a blind dog without a bone
I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone
I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold

I been there, done that, and I ain’t lookin’ back on the seeds I’ve sown
Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone
Who says you can’t go home?

Who says you can’t go home
There’s only one place they call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rolling stone
Who says you can’t go home?

Who says you can’t go back?
I’ve been all around the world as a matter of fact
There’s only one place left I want to roam
Who says you can’t go home?

It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright

I went as far as I could, I tried to find a new face
There isn’t one of these lines that I would erase
I lived a million miles of memories on that road

With every step that I take I know that I’m not alone
You take the home from the boy, but not the the boy from his home
These are my streets, the only life
I’ve ever known
Who says you can’t go home?

Who says you can’t go home?
There’s only one place they call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rolling stone
Who says you can’t go home?

Who says you can’t go back?
I been all around the world as a matter of fact
There’s only one place left I want to roam
Who says you can’t go home?

It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
Who says you can’t go home?

It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
Who says you can’t go home?

I been there, done that, and I ain’t looking back
It’s been a long, long road
Feels like I never left
That’s how the story goes

It doesn’t matter where you are
It doesn’t matter where you go
If it’s a million miles away
Or just a mile up the road
Take it in, take it with you when you go
Who says you can’t go home?

Who says you can’t go home?
There’s only one place they call me one of their own
Just a hometown boy, born a rolling stone
Who says you can’t go home?

Who says you can’t go back?
I been all around the world as a matter of fact
There’s only one place left I want to roam
Who says you can’t go home?

It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
It’s alright
Who says you can’t go home?

 Imagery is the use of vivid description, usually rich in sensory words, to create pictures, or images, in the reader's mind.
 Ex. The warm breeze blew across her skin.

Shirts in the closet, shoes in the hall
Mama's in the kitchen, baby and all
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you’re missing

Coffee cups on the counter, jackets on the chair
Papers on the doorstep, but you’re not there
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you’re missing

Pictures on the nightstand, TV’s on in the den
Your house is waiting, your house is waiting
For you to walk in, for you to walk in
But you’re missing, You’re missing

You’re missing when I shut out the lights
You’re missing when I close my eyes
You’re missing when I see the sun rise
You’re missing

Children are asking if it’s alright
Will you be in our arms tonight?

Morning is morning, the evening falls, I got
Too much room in my bed, too many phone calls
How’s everything, everything?
Everything ain’t everything
You’re missing, you’re missing

God’s drifting in heaven, devil’s in the mailbox
I got dust on my shoes, nothing but teardrops