Hi all! Today for e-learning, I will be talking about Figurative Language in Poems and how it is displayed in the poems. I chose this poem "Father" by Simon Armitage. This is how it goes:

My father thought it bloody queer,

the day I rolled home with a ring of silver in my ear

half hidden by a mop of hair. 'You've lost your head.

If that's how easily you're led

you should've had it through your nose instead.'



And even then I hadn't had the nerve to numb

the lobe with ice, then drive a needle through the skin,

then wear a safety-pin. It took a jeweller's gun

to pierce the flesh, and then a friend

to thread a sleeper in, and where it slept

the hole became a sore, became a wound, and wept.



At twenty-nine, it comes as no surprise to hear

my own voice breaking like a tear, released like water,

cried from way back in the spiral of the ear. If I were you,

I'd take it out and leave it out next year.

First up: Personification. It is displayed in the sentence: The hole became a sore, became a wound, and wept. Personification means to give a non-living thing an action. In this case, the hole was said to have wept, which is impossible as holes do not weep. Therefore, it is a personification.

Next, Metaphor. It is displayed in this sentence: You should have had it through your nose instead. Metaphor means to use another sentence or word to convey the same message. In this case, you should have had it through your nose instead means that you should have put the ring through your nose, like how they tame a wild bull, so that the persona can be "tamed".


I like this poem as it is very meaningful. Simon Armitage has successfully pen down a typical behaviour and language use of a teenager. Therefore, the poem sounds like it was written by a teenager himself. He also effectively conveys the message to readers that having earrings are bad for one. Also, it conveys a typical father-son relationship. It shows that usually, father and son relationship can be very casual and informal, from the language he uses. They may not be agreeable with one another, but the father always wishes for the best of the son. This is shown by the father giving advice not to wear earrings. In the end, the son would realise that what the father said it true. This is a very typical scenario that all readers should be able to comprehend.