50 Examples of metaphors with their meaning

The metaphor is a literary or rhetorical figure with which the meaning of one concept is attributed to another, establishing an analogy between the two. In other words, the metaphor interchanges the concepts showing the similarity between them.

Its use allows you to print more beauty, grace or significance to what you want to express. This figure has application both in literature and in everyday language.

Metaphors in everyday language (and their meaning)

1. The pearls in your mouth. (The teeth of your mouth) The celestial fireflies decorated the night. (The stars shone in the night) The sky was covered in white cottons. (The sky was covered with clouds) The murmur of the river was heard. (The sound of the river was heard) A mother gives her life for her offspring. (A mother gives her life for her children) The girl became a butterfly. (The girl developed) The gold in her hair. (The golden color of her hair) He admired the ebony of her skin. (He admired the dark color of her skin) The green cloak of the meadow. (The grass of the meadow) Eternal sleep. (Death) The flower of life. (Youth) Beyond the earth there is only blue. (Beyond the land there is only sea) Let me taste the honey from your lips. (Let me taste the taste of your lips) Rivers of bitterness gushed from his eyes. (Tears of bitterness flowed from his eyes) The snow in his hair spoke of his history. (The gray hair in his hair spoke of his history) The ivory of his body seduced him. (The white of his body seduced him) He felt the drum of his chest. (He felt the beat of his chest) Two emeralds sparkled in his eyes. (His green eyes sparkled) The lament of the guitars could be heard. (The sound of guitars could be heard) His eyes were two blue wells. (To refer to the color and beauty of someone's eyes) His mouth was a fresh fruit. (His mouth was red and provocative) Love is a tyrant. (Love does not allow for choice) Your voice is music to my ears. (Your voice is pleasant to me) His heart was an infinite well. (His ability to love is endless) His eyes are sapphires. (Her eyes are blue and shiny) Her skin is velvet. (Her skin is soft) Lucrecia is a beast. (Lucrecia has a bad temper) Your arms are a safe harbor. (Your arms make me feel protected and rested) Imagination is the crazy thing in the house. (Attributed to Santa Teresa de Ávila). (Imagination restless but it is part of us) His disciples, olive shoots, grew everywhere. Your skin, scented silk. The moon, lamp of the night. Listening to his voice, a balm for my soul. He had nerves of steel Nothing moved his heart of stone. In the sky the silver moon shone. He sang with his canary voice. It was not a flood, it was his crying. The city, swirl of chaos, tireless roar. His eyes were stars; the stars were hopes; the hopes, horses that carried the car of this love.

See also:

• What is the metaphor? 60 examples of simile.

Metaphors in literature (explained)

41. "Your parchment moon / precious playing comes" (Federico García Lorca).

Explanation: it is a pure metaphor, in which a real term has been replaced by an unreal one. The parchment moon refers to a tambourine.

42. "When I think about how my light runs out…" (John Milton).

Explanation: pure metaphor. The exhausting light refers to your blindness.

43. "To the mill of love / happy the girl goes" (Tirso de Molina).

Explanation: it is a metaphor of a prepositional complement in which two terms are associated through the preposition of : "to the mill of love ".

44. "If to the magnet of your attractive graces / my obedient steel chest serves, / why do you make me fall in love flattering, / if you are to mock me then a fugitive?" (Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz).

Explanation: metaphor prepositional complement in the first ("on") and second ("de") verse: "to the magnet of your appeal thanks ", " my chest of obedient steel "

45. "Woman's body, white hills, white thighs, / you resemble the world in your attitude of surrender. / My body as a wild peasant undermines you / and makes the son jump from the bottom of the earth" (Pablo Neruda).

Explanation: The first verse contains an appositional metaphor in which the comparison terms are separated by commas: "Woman's body , white hills , white thighs". The third verse is a metaphor of a prepositional complement: " My body of the wild peasant undermines you."

46. ​​"While to compete with your hair, / burnished gold, the sun shines in vain" (Luis de Góngora).

Explanation: This is an appositional metaphor where the comma establishes the apposition that resembles gold to the sun: " burnished gold, the sun shines in vain."

47. "Your eyes are the homeland of lightning and tears" (Octavio Paz).

Explanation: The first part of the sentence is an impure metaphor, in which an identification is established between the real concept (your eyes) and the imaginary one (the homeland of lightning and tears) by means of the verb to be (are). The second part of the phrase is a metaphor for prepositional complement "the homeland of the lightning and of the tear ".

48. "My heart is a frozen geranium" (Sylvia Plath).

Explanation: it is an impure metaphor where the verb to be (is) associated to the heart with a detained geranium.

49. "Those bloody blows are the crackles / of some bread that burns at the door of the oven." (Cesar Vallejo).

Explanation: it is an impure metaphor. In it it resembles bloody blows with the crackles of some bread that burns at the door of an oven.

50. "Your hands are my caress, / my daily chords" (Mario Benedetti).

Explanation: these verses bring together an impure metaphor (your hands are my caress), with an appositional metaphor (your hands are my caress , my daily chords).