IDENTIFYING METAPHORS & SIMILES
A simile is a comparison, but
it does not use any actual comparing word (‘as,’ ‘like,’ or ‘than’). Here are
some well-known examples of similes:
faster than
lightning
as stubborn as
a mule
checks like
roses
A metaphor is also a
comparison, but it does not use any actual comparing words as a simile does. The
comparison is implied rather than stated.
This place is a
madhouse
a blanket of
snow
zip your
lip
Below are some famous comparisons from poems. In each case, tell whether
the comparison is a simile or a
metaphor.
1. The moon was a ghostly
galleon
___________________________________
2. …the muscles of his brawny
arms
Are strong as iron
bands.
___________________________________
3. The
winds…
…are upgathered now
like sleeping flowers
_____________________________
4. O wild West Wind, though
breath of Autumn’s
being
_____________________________
5. Like an army
defeated
The snow has retreated
_____________________________
6. …the new soft fallen
mask
Of snow upon the
mountain and the moors
_____________________________
7. I wandered lonely as a
cloud
_____________________________
8. In the golden
lightning
Of the setting sun
_____________________________