Monday, January 23, 2017

What are the figures of speech used in the poem "There Is No Frigate Like a Book"?

Emily Dickinson uses a series of metaphors to describe how literature can transport the reader to new worlds of learning and enjoyment. First, she says there is no frigate, or ship, that is capable of bearing its passengers to faraway places as well as a book can. Second, she compares poetry to swift, prancing horses with another metaphor. Next, she extends the traveling metaphor into an analogy by bringing in the idea of a toll. Unlike traveling on a road or across a bridge that might charge a fee, books are generally free to those who really want them. They can be borrowed, or if purchased, their fee is a pittance compared with the great "distances" to which they can transport the reader. Finally, she offers one more traveling metaphor, comparing books to an inexpensive chariot that carries the "Human Soul."
Beyond the metaphors and analogy Dickinson uses lies a subtle pun. Although she never uses the word "transportation" in the poem, she gives four examples of things having to do with physical transportation. The underlying idea springs from a pun on the word "transport," whose secondary meaning is to overwhelm with strong emotion, especially joy. Books not only transport the reader to new lands, times, and situations, but they can transport, that is, delight him or her as well. Another more obvious pun occurs with the word "bears." It could also be taken to mean "bares," that is, lays bare. Books lay bare the souls of their authors and also expose the souls of their readers when readers respond to the written word emotionally.
This little eight-line poem by Emily Dickinson is packed with delightful and thought-provoking figures of speech.

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