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HXE 112: Reading and Writing about Literature

Individual Essay

Metaphor and Persona

Imulok Marcus

129036

Lecturer

: Dr. Simon Hull

Date of Submission : 30 October 2015

William Cowper and William Shakespeare: A Study of Metaphor and Persona


In poetry, there are many literary concepts used to create meaning more creatively. Both
William Cowper and William Shakespeare use metaphor and persona in writing their poems
respectively. Metaphor is often used to deliver a message in a less precise way to let its
audience interpret the poem unrestrictedly. According to Knowles and Moon (2006), when
writers use metaphorical language, the meaning of texts is more open to interpretation.
Readers would not interpret narrowly which allows metaphorical language to have a more
powerful impact compared to literal language. On the other hand, persona is the voice or the
character used to represent the writers thoughts for specific purposes. Poets use persona to
express their voices freely without any restrictions. Sometimes, it is also because they cannot
put their ideas or beliefs into words (Literary Devices, 2014).
The first text which is The Castaway is a mournful poem written in 1799 by William
Cowper. The poem describes a shipwrecked sailor during a stormy night. More than half of
the poem tells the story of a sailor struggling to stay alive. The sailor tries hard to fight the
storm, but at the end faces his unfortunate fate. He dies after being drowned by the stifling
wave. After the sailor dies, we hear a first person voice (I). The speaker compares his own
state to the sailors struggle. Through the speaker, we are given hints as to what the poem is
really about. The speaker uses the misfortunes of the sailor to illustrate his own misery.
The main metaphor is the narration of the sailor as he is drowning. The sequence of the story
of the drowning sailor is the vehicle. The intended meaning or tenor is the feeling of
helplessness. The connection between the vehicle and tenor is the idea of sinking and being
unable to do anything about it. There are also many minor metaphors in this poem. For
example, in line 6, His floating home forever left describes the ship metaphorically. Living
and spending most of time inside the ship, remind us the feelings of being at home but at the

same time, the ship is floating or not attached to anything because it continues to float on
the sea (Hull, 2015).
The title itself is a form of metaphor. The account of the drowning sailor fits the literal
meaning but at the end of the poem, a more metaphorical title is being suggested. We know
that castaway means someone who is stranded from being shipwrecked but as we read the
poem until the end; the last three stanzas tell us that it is more than just about a castaway.
When the speaker introduces the castaway in the beginning of the poem, it meets our
expectation of the title. We have expected a person being shipwrecked. However, as we read
more into the poem, there is a twist as the comparison between the speaker and the sailor
become more obvious. So the title The Castaway does not literally mean the shipwrecked
sailor only but also the similarity of a drowning person and the speaker suffering. When the
speaker started using I, we can finally know what the intended message is:
I therefore purpose not, or dream,
Descanting on his fate,
To give the melancholy theme
A more enduring date:
But misery still delights to trace
Its semblance in another's case.
(Cowper 55-60)
Cowper also uses persona to express his thoughts in a more meaningful way. The voice or
character in the poem goes back and forth between the first-person (I) to the third-person
(he)(Hull, 2015). The he in the Cowpers poem is a sailor being washed away from his

ship. The poet used a real account from the George Ansons voyage (Guides, Cowper, Essays
& Cowper, 2015). We can refer that to the line 51-52, That tells his name, his worth, his age,
Is wet with Ansons tears. The persona first introduced a person into the picture by using a
third person point of view, he. The persona introduced the sailor and related him to his own
misfortune in line 3, When such a destined wretch as I, which tells us that the sailor in a
way is similar to him. The persona then continues to tell how the sailor tries hard to stay
alive. Some of his shipmates try to help but unfortunately they have to save themselves first.
The poem emphasises more on the narration of the sailor struggling in the sea to stay alive.
The continuously usage of the third-person (he) makes us forget about the persona. The
persona removes any direct reference to him. The focus is on the sailor and his struggles in
the sea. However in the last few stanzas, we are reminded again about the persona. At the
end, he relates the struggles of the sailor to survive with his own state of sufferings. The
sailors frustration and despair is significant especially when the persona finally speaks up
in the three final stanzas. The comparison between the sailor and the persona creates more
meaningful meanings than stating how miserable the persona is. The persona compared both
of their suffering and even exaggerate his own by saying, But I beneath a rougher sea/And
whelmed in deeper gulfs than he. (65-66)
The character of the sailor being washed away and fighting to stay alive but eventually died
creates more powerful images for the reader. We know the sailor is desperate to reach out for
help. The personas state of mind is similar to the sailors struggle. The isolation that the
persona felt, We perished, each alone; (line 64) is similar to the act of the sailors
shipmates abandonment.
The second text which is Sonnet 18 titled Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day? is
written in 1590 by William Shakespeare. Sonnet 18 describes the comparison of the speakers

beloved to the summer. Shakespeare uses a lot of metaphors in Sonnet 18. Most of the lines
are not to be taken literally because their meanings would not make sense.
The speaker starts off by asking whether he should compare his beloved to the summers day.
This comparison is a metaphor itself. His beloved person is as good as the summers day that
the speaker is thinking whether he should compare the two together. This can be seen in the
first line, Shall I compare thee to a Summers day? However, as he continues his
comparison, he realises that the person is much better than the summer. When he tries to
compare the two, he ends up contrasting them. Although these two are somehow similar, line
2, Thou art more lovely and more temperate: implies that his beloved is not on an equal
level with summer, but on a higher level.
The next few lines form line 3 to line 6 describes how summer is less lovely and not constant
(Shakespeare-online.com, 2015). Line 3 tells us darling buds or flowers are roughly shaken
by the summers wind. And summers lease hath all too short a date: in line 4 reminds us
that the summer only lasts a short period of time. Lease suggests that summer time is only a
borrowed time and will be returned soon without us realising it. The next line, Sometime too
hot the eye of heaven shines, implies that the eye of heaven is sun. Both too hot and
shines are the suns characteristics. He continues in line 6, often is his gold complexion
dimmed, a metaphor for the sun being blocked by clouds.
After his stark remark, the speaker admits that even though his lover is beautiful, her beauty
will fade due to natures changing course (line 8). In order for him to continue glorifying
her beauty, his lines will be preserved it. But thy eternal summer shall not fade/ When in
eternal lines to time thou grow'st: (line 9 and line 12). The Sonnet 18 title which is Shall I
compare thee to a Summers day? implies more than what it means. This is because the

speakers intention changes as he tries to draw a comparison between his beloved and
summer. He ends up confessing that his beloved is more exceptional than summer.
Shakespeare also uses persona to get his belief across. He believes that a beloved person is
greater compared to the summer. Through the first-person speaker, the poet is able to describe
the feelings of admiring someones beauty. It is more convincing too because we are hearing
a voice directly to describe an individual uniquely. The personas way of describing his
beloved is as if we are reading a love letter. Compared to third-person narration, it would
have been impersonal and distant for us to accept his love for that particular person.
The persona makes us realise that there is someone out there who could favour a person in a
way that neither season nor flower could defeat. By using first-person voice, the persona is
being personal. This delivers the meaning of the sonnet more strongly as we are shown one
persons devotion to his love.
Despite that, it is tempting to see the persona and the poet as the same person as in line 12,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st: suggests to us the persona is a poet himself
because he would make his beloveds beauty live through the lines he is writing on. We do
not know whether the persona is Shakespeare himself. However, there is a tendency to think
of the persona as it being Shakespeare. By distinguishing Shakespeare and the persona it
shows us how skilful Shakespeare can be by creating a persona to love someone dearly
instead of using his own experience. The persona allows us see his own point of view on his
lovers beauty, not Shakespeare himself.
Both the poets of The Castaway and Sonnet 18 had used metaphor sparingly to make
their poems more meaningful. Cowper successfully delivered the message that depression is
to be likened with a drowning sailor. While to Shakespeare, the beauty of someones beloved
is more superior compared to summer. Both the persona in the texts played their important

role in assisting the poets intent. The voices we hear while reading both poems are cleverly
written in such way that we are able to relate to their misery or fascination. Both metaphor
and persona as literary devices have served their function well in both texts.

References
Guides, S., Cowper, W., Essays, C., & Cowper, W. (2015). William Cowper Essay - Critical
Essays

eNotes.com.

eNotes.

Retrieved

October

2015,

from

http://www.enotes.com/topics/william-cowper/critical-essays
Hull, S. (2015). Week 2 Metaphor and Persona. Personal Collection of S. Hull, Universiti
Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang.
Hull, S. (2015). Week 3 Poetry I: Metaphor. Personal Collection of S. Hull, Universiti Sains
Malaysia, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang.
Knowles, M., & Moon, R. (2006). Introducing metaphor. London: Routledge.
Literary Devices,. (2014). Persona - Definition and Examples of Persona. Retrieved 19
October 2015, from http://literarydevices.net/persona/
Shakespeare-online.com,. (2015). Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 - Shall I Compare
Thee to a Summer's Day. Retrieved 10 October 2015, from http://www.shakespeareonline.com/sonnets/18detail.html

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