Figurative Language

Figurative language is the use of language to give words meaning beyond their literal definitions. For example, a simile is a comparison of two things using the words “like” or “as.” “Her heart is as soft as a cloud.” is a simile. Other figurative language includes metaphor, personification, hyperbole, and alliteration. Check out our figurative language anchor chart resources too!

Cupid’s Broken Glasses

Cupid went to bed early. Tomorrow was a big day! Every year he went flying around, shooting his special arrows at people to make them fall in love. Valentine’s Day was always the busiest time for him.   He took a final look at his Love List. It held the…

If

If you can keep your head when all about you    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,    But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,    Or being…

The Pit and the Pendulum

In this passage from Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Pit and the Pendulum,” the narrator has been convicted during the Spanish Inquisition of an unnamed crime and sentenced to death. He is tied on the floor, and a large sharp blade is swinging back and forth towards his body. …

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better…

The Emigrant Train

Robert Louis Stevenson was a famous author of adventure novels. In one of his nonfiction travel books, he writes about his trip to the United states. In this passage, he tells of his meeting with a railroad newsboy. At that time, a newsboy was a boy who traveled on a…

The Cobbler and the Fairies

There was once a cobbler who worked hard at his trade, and yet never seemed to get on in the world. One evening he took his last piece of leather and cut out a pair of shoes and laid the pieces neatly on his bench, expecting to finish them in…

Old King Cole

     Old King Cole      Was a merry old soul, And a merry old soul was he;      He called for his pipe,      And he called for his bowl, And he called for his fiddlers three! And every fiddler, he had a fine fiddle,       And a…

Romeo Meets Juliet

In this passage from Romeo and Juliet, Romeo first meets Juliet at a party held by her parents. Neither of them know who the other is; they are both the only children of feuding families. They are engaged in a flirtatious conversation. —————————————– Romeo. [To Juliet.] If I profane with…

Casey at the Bat

This amusing poem about a baseball game was written in 1888. ——————————- It looked extremely rocky for the Mudville nine that day: The score stood four to six with just an inning left to play; And so, when Cooney died at fi rst, and Burrows did the same, A pallor…

Leaves from the Notebook of an Emigrant Between New York and San Francisco

Robert Louis Stevenson, a native of Scotland, took a train trip from New York to San Francisco in 1879. This is from the beginning of his trip. —————————————————– Tuesday.-When I awoke, it was already day; the train was standing idle; I was in the last carriage, and, seeing some others…