Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes one thing as another in order to reveal likeness, meaning, feeling, or imaginative truth. Unlike a simile, a metaphor does not usually use “like” or “as.” Instead of saying grief is like a stone, metaphor says grief is a stone.
A metaphor often joins two unlike things so that one deepens the other. It may be simple, extended, surprising, symbolic, spiritual, comic, or dramatic. A metaphor should not merely decorate a poem. It should help the reader see the subject more intensely.
To write with metaphor, begin with the thing you want to describe. Then ask what it feels like, moves like, harms like, shelters like, hides like, or becomes in the imagination. A strong metaphor should be fresh enough to awaken the subject but clear enough to be felt.
Melancholia
Grief is a locked room.
Hope is a match in wet weather.
The moon is a torn white sail.
Memory is a house with one light burning.
Metaphor is a traditional poetic device. A poet may extend one metaphor through an entire poem, allowing every image to belong to the same comparison. A poet may also break a metaphor deliberately when the comparison fails, changes, or becomes too small for the feeling.
WoPoLi 
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