Language and Literature 8B

Curie Chiou

Apr.25.17

Alfred Noyes used metaphor technique in his poem to provide and set up a more vivid background. The author applied metaphor in the first background setting stanza to give more vivid descriptions of objects. For example: “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees, the moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, the road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor” (Noyes, line 1, 2, 3). The use of metaphor helped the author to compare two objects directly together, and also helped the readers to image the author’s thoughts better. Take the evidence provided as an example, by describing wind as a torrent of darkness, moon as a ghostly galleon, and road as a ribbon of moonlight, the readers can easily image the background that is being set up. Also, with these descriptions of these objects, the author successfully hooked the audience with the mysterious atmosphere being presented. Overall, applying metaphor technique enabled the author to create a more vivid background because of the description of objects being given, that furthermore made the readers to have a wider imagination of how the background may seem like.