Gentle whispers called from behind the wall. The following is an example of a simile: Her stomach rumbled like an approaching train.

The song used sunshine as a metaphor for joy. Food is often used as a metaphor for other needs. Her art uses metaphor and allegory as a subtle way to introduce difficult topics. The English teacher used a tree as a metaphor for her students’ abilities to grow into strong, capable adults.

A metaphor is a word or phrase used to describe something as if it was something else. A metaphor isn’t a comparison – that’s a simile, where you say one thing is ‘like’ another (“Her eyes were like diamonds”). Instead, a metaphor is simply a statement where you are saying that one thing is another.

1 : a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money) broadly : figurative language — compare simile.

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. An example of a simile is: She is as innocent as an angel. An example of a metaphor is: She is an angel.

While both similes and metaphors are used to make comparisons, the difference between similes and metaphors comes down to a word. Similes use the words like or as to compare things—“Life is like a box of chocolates.” In contrast, metaphors directly state a comparison—“Love is a battlefield.”

A simile is a figure of speech and type of metaphor that compares two different things using the words “like” or “as.” The purpose of a simile is to help describe one thing by comparing it to another thing that is perhaps seemingly unrelated.

As a method of linking words for effect, alliteration is also called head rhyme or initial rhyme. For example, “humble house,” or “potential power play.” A familiar example is “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”.

How to Write a Simile

1. Think of one thing and what you want to say about it; do you want to say that something is big, boring, beautiful, or is it some quality you don’t have an adjective for?
2. Think of a second thing that shows the same or similar characteristic.

Metaphor is a common poetic device where an object in, or the subject of, a poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object.

How to Write an Alliteration

1. Think of the subject you want to emphasize.
2. Think of words that relate to the subject and begin with the same sound.
3. Place those words closely together in a sentence.

Classifying Rhymes by Their Placement Within Lines End rhyme is any rhyme that occurs at the end of a line of verse, in the final word or syllables. This is by far the most common type of rhyme used in poetry. An example would be, “Roses are red, violets are blue, / Sugar is sweet, and so are you.”