extended+metaphor

Extended Metaphor [ik-sten-did] ListenListen

A metaphor developed at great length, occuring frequently in or throughout work

Example 2: Shakespeare's Sonnets 73

That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed whereon it must expire Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by. This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

In Shakespeare's poem, he compares his old age to nature in each of the sonnets quatrains. He doesn't just contain one or two metaphors, however his whole sonnets consists of metaphors that help emphasizes his message.