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Metaphorical Expression used in Poetry in book "The Everyday Poet"  

by Deborah Alma 

 

Ayu Gres Oktavia Sinaga1, Marlin Steffi Marpaung2 

Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Advent Indonesia 

Corresponding author: marlin.marpaung@unai.edu 
 

ABSTRACT 

Poetry is characterized as a kind of literature or creative writing that uses 
a variety of poetic approaches to stimulate the reader's emotions and 
imagination. This study focuses on the metaphorical expression used in poetry 
in the book "The Everyday Poet" by Deborah Alma. The objectives of this study 
are to determine the types of metaphors reflected in Deborah Alma’s poetry 
book "The Everyday Poet," to find out the most common types of metaphors 
used, and to explain the meaning of the metaphors contained in the poems. The 
methodology used in this study is descriptive qualitative research. The data 
were obtained through library research and a variety of literature to present a 
descriptive issue. The result of this study showed that there are twelve 
metaphors in the book "The Everyday Poet." There are six anthropomorphic 
metaphors, one animal metaphor, two abstract to concrete metaphors, and three 
synesthetic metaphors, and based on the data, the most commonly used 
metaphor is anthropomorphic metaphor, which has six lines in the book "The 
Everyday Poet" by Debora Alma. 
 
Keywords: Metaphor, poetry, The Everyday Poet 
 
INTRODUCTION 

People use both spoken and written language in literary works in a 
variety of ways. For instance, to communicate with others, express our opinions 
and feeling, ask and answer questions, write a journal, send an email, make an 
essay, write a diary, and many more. Literature is a term that refers to written 
texts that are distinguished by their careful use of language, including features 
such as creative metaphors, beautiful phrases, elegant syntax, rhymes, and 
aesthetic alliteration. Literature combines human understanding with artistic 
expression to reflect human thought and emotion in beautiful words and forms. 
It means that literary work is something more than the language from which it 
is constructed (Meyer, 1997; Moody, 1971). A literary work is a singular artistic 
creation that uses words to express the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of 
people. Literary works are the specialized language that authors use to 
communicate their thoughts, feelings, and experiences to their audience 
(Rahman, 2018). 

Poetry is a type of literary work in which carefully chosen words are 
used to convey the poem's intended meaning. Poetry is the oldest genre in 

mailto:marlin.marpaung@unai.edu


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literary history and the most important literary form out of all the others, and 
poetry expresses thoughts, feelings, and experiences of certain locations, 
people, and moments. It can investigate emotions and provide a picture of the 
human experience. stated that poems are not like ordinary speech or writing; 
they are specially made objects in words. It means that poetry is the choice of 
words and their arrangement to draw the reader's attention to certain elements 
of the language in order to understand the poem's own message. Poetry can be 
defined as a type of language that expresses itself more strongly than ordinary 
language (Gill, 1995; Laurence & Thomas, 1992; Marpaung & Rahmadhan, 
2021). 

One of the most unique components of poetry is the use of figurative and 
metaphorical language. A metaphor is a type of figurative meaning that is an 
explicit comparison between two things, unlike an object, by identifying or 
replacing one with the other. Figurative language is a type of language that uses 
words or expressions that have deeper meanings than they do in their literal 
sense. A metaphor is a figure of speech that leaves off the comparison terms by 
using like, as, or than and suggests that one thing is similar to another. 

Deborah Alma is the emergency poet. She offers consultations and poetic 

remedies to comfort those in need of a pick-me-up for the soul and is the editor 
of The Emergency Poet, an anthology of anti-stress poems. Deborah Alma, the 
world's first and only emergency poet, travels in her 1970s ambulance to 
schools, libraries, and festivals, offering consultations and prescribing poems as 
cures for various maladies: to comfort, purge melancholy, provide hope, and 
give courage. Deborah Alma's book "The Everyday Poet"—poems to live by—is 
designed to address your everyday needs: whether work is getting you down, 
you need a moment to relax, you're having trouble sleeping, or you need some 
romantic guidance, the book has a poem for you. 

Metaphor analysis has long been used in literary studies, particularly 
poetry. Several researchers have conducted research that focuses on 
interpreting metaphors in poetry. Specifically, researchers are describing the 
meaning of metaphors contained in poetry (Rahman, I.A., 2018; Rasse, C., 
Onyskos, A., & Citron, F., 2020; Lan, Chun, & Yin, Zichong, 2020). 

Hence, this study focusses on the type of metaphor and the meaning from 
the whole book of “The Everyday Poet” by Deborah Alma. Therefore, three 
research questions were formulated in this study: 
1. What are the types of metaphors in "The Everyday Poet" by Deborah Alma? 
2. What is the most common type of metaphors used in “The Everyday Poet” 

by Debora Alma? 
3. What are the meanings of the metaphors contained in "The Everyday Poet" 

by Deborah Alma? 

 

 



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LITERATURE REVIEW 
 
Poetry 

Poetry is characterized as a kind of literature or creative writing that uses 
a variety of poetic approaches to stimulate the reader's emotions and 
imagination. The poet creates a piece of writing that arouses the reader's 
emotions by combining rhythm, word choice, sounds, rhymes, structure, and 
other elements. Poetry comes in a wide variety of formats and styles, and the 
text is frequently divided into units called stanzas. Poetry employs language as 
a medium. Before the language is used as a medium for poetry, it already has a 
meaning of its own according to the language norms and patterns, which must 
be understood and mastered. This is what makes poetry challenging to 

comprehend. The aesthetic, oblique expression, and compression qualities that 
are essential to poetry make it difficult to comprehend what it is expressing 
(Dirgeyasa, 2017). 

 
Metaphor 

In figurative language, a metaphor is a comparison or analogy formed 
between two objects that are not often addressed as if they have anything in 
common. Alm-Arvius (2003, p. 90) declared that "metaphors are common in 
language use, and ordinarily, it does not seem to require any particular effort to 
construct and understand them." A metaphor is a kind of figurative language 
used to think about something by analogy. According to Peter (2002), metaphor 
is figurative language that directly compares one thing to another. Metaphor is 
defined by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) as a device of the poetic imagination and 
a rhetorical flourish—a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. 

 
Types of Metaphor 
 

Experts have proposed several theories about the various types of 

metaphors. The Parera theory is one of them. Metaphors, according to Parera 

(2004), can be classified into four types: 

1. Anthropomorphic metaphor 

Anthropomorphic metaphor compares the similarity of experience with what is 

contained in the metaphor user's body. Users of language compare the 

similarity of experience to what is in itself or to their own bodies. There is a 

word relation in anthropomorphic metaphors that is supposed to be used 

specifically for a human feature or element but is associated with inanimate 

objects. 

2. Animal Metaphor 

Animal metaphors are metaphors that demonstrate the existence of associations 

that appear between the characteristics of the animal and human nature. In 



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reality, not only the characteristics are being compared but also the elements of 

the animal's body. From animals to inanimate objects, and from humans to 

animals. 

3. Abstract to concrete metaphors 

A metaphor from abstract to concrete is a type of diversion metaphor in which 

abstract expressions are transferred to concrete expressions. 

4. Synesthetic metaphor 

A synthetic metaphor is a type of metaphor that deviates from one sense to 

another. This metaphor's fundamental creation is a diversion of responses 

based on the experience of understanding one another. Expressions can be 

created by diverting stimulus from one sense organ to another, such as from the 

sense of hearing to the sense of sight, or from the sense of touch to the sense of 

hearing, and so on. 

 

Related Studies 

Several research focused on metaphor, figurative language, and poetry 
have been conducted. Research focus on figurative language in poetry were 
done by (Nur, M.R.O & Miranti, R.R.,2018, Hutauruk, B.S., 2019, Khairunisa, et 
al., 2020). Research focus on explaining the meaning of metaphor in poetry were 
conducted by (Rahman, I.A., 2018; RASSE, C., ONYSKO, A., & CITRON, F., 
2020; Lan, Chun & Yin, Zichong.,2020). Research focus on Metaphorical 
Expression used in poetry were done by (Ketaren, S.V., & Br. Pakpahan, E.M., 
2021). 

 

METHODOLOGY 

Research Design and Data Collection 

This study employs a qualitative descriptive research method. The 
researchers obtain the data through library research and data collection from a 
variety of literature. This study's literature is drawn not only from books, but 
also from journals, reference articles, and the internet. The subject of the 
research is Deborah Alma's poetry book. 

Data collection methods in qualitative descriptive research are diverse 
and aim to discover the who, what, and where of phenomena (Sandelowski, 
2000). In collecting the data, researchers conducted this study in some 
steps.  The first step is choosing the poetry book. Second, read the poem line by 
line to look for figurative language, especially the metaphors. The researchers 
then put it in a table and classified it based on the types and meanings of 
metaphors. Third is identifying how many metaphorical words are contained in 
the poetries and identifying the types of metaphors used in poetries, and the 



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last is recognizing poetries in order to interpret the meaning of the metaphors in 
the poetries collection from "The Everyday Poet" by Deborah Alma. 

The data are derived from the metaphorical expression found in the book 
"The Everyday Poet." This research's data has been presented in written form, 
and it describes the findings of the analysis related to the metaphorical 
expressions used in poetry. The researchers obtained the data from a book. 

 
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

Findings 

Types of Metaphors 

The researchers discovered the types of metaphor in the book "The 
Everyday Poet" after analyzing the data. Parera (2004) classified metaphors into 
four types: anthropomorphic metaphor, animal metaphor, abstract to concrete 
metaphor, and synesthetic metaphor. The poet's metaphors were classified into 
tables by the researchers based on the verse of the poem. 

  
To answer research question number 1, the analysis is presented on table 1. 
 
Table 1. The types of metaphor in a semantic perspective 

Tittle of Poetry Line Types of 
Metaphors 

Work without Hope by 
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 
(p.17) 

The bees are stirring 
birds are on the wing 
 

 
Animal Metaphor 

The Darkling Trush by 
Thomas Hardy  

When the frost was spectre-
grey 

Abstract to 
concrete Metaphor 

Danse Russe by William 
Carlos Williams (p.32) 

The sun is a flame -white disc 
in silken mists 
 

Abstract to 
concrete Metaphor 

Dirty Bird by Jane Burn 
(p.24) 

The Mirror is taunt Synesthetic 
Metaphor 

The Tom-Cat by Don 
Marquis (p.69) 

o His eyes are coals from the 
middle of Hell 

o And his heart is black and 
hard 

Anthropomorphic 
Metaphor 

Anthropomorphic 
Metaphor 

Sonnet 130 by William 
Shakespeare (p.86) 

o My mistress’ eyes are 
nothing like the sun, 

o Coral is far more red than 
her lips’ red 

Anthropomorphic 
Metaphor 

Anthropomorphic 
Metaphor 

Kisses by Thomas Campion 
(p.87) 

That kisses were the seals of 
love 

Anthropomorphic 
Metaphor 

La Belle Dame Sans Merci: 
A Ballad by John Keats 

I see a lily on thy brow, 
With anguish moist and fever-

Synesthetic 
Metaphor 



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(p.94) dew, 
The Tables Turned by 
William Wordsworth 
(p.149) 

Sweet is the lore which nature 
brings 
 

Synesthetic 
Metaphor 

Green by D.H. 
LAWRENCE (p.163) 

The dawn was apple-green, 
 
The sky was green wine held 
up in the sun 

 
Anthropomorphic 

Metaphor 

 

To answer research question number two, the results are presented on table 2. 
 
Table 2. Most common type of metaphor 

Type of Metaphor Line contain metaphor 

Anthropomorphic metaphor 6 lines 

Animal metaphor 1 line 

Abstract to concrete metaphors 2 lines 

Synesthetic metaphor 3 lines 

Based on table 2 above, it can be concluded that the most common type of 
metaphor used in the book "The Everyday Poet" is anthropomorphic metaphor, 
which has six lines. 
 
Meaning of Metaphor 

The researchers discovered several meanings in each poem that the poet 
wanted to convey to the readers through the use of figurative language such as 
metaphor after analyzing the data. To answer research question number three, 
the meaning of metaphors is presented on Table 3. 
 
Table 3. The meaning of metaphor  

The metaphor Meaning of metaphor 

The bees are stirring, 
birds are on the wing 
 

The speaker describes the ways in which 
“Nature” appears to work all around him. As he 
is traveling through a natural environment, he is 
able to observe the “Slugs” leaving “their trails” 
and the “stirring” of the bees. He can see the 

various animals all moving in their individual 
lives although it is still Winter. There are birds in 
the air, “on the wing” and Winter seems to smile 
at the thought of the coming spring.  

When frost was spectre-
grey 
 

The presence of frost indicates that it is winter, 
and the adjective "spectre-grey," coined by 
Hardy, suggests a haunted landscape. 

The sun is a flame -white 
disc in silken mists 

It is sun-rise, and the ‘silken mists', and 'flame 
white disc [sun]' combine to create a picture of 



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 natural beauty. The harmonious setting creates a 
picturesque morning for Williams to perform his 
dance. The solitude and quiet of a ‘morning' add 
to Williams' 'lonely' sense, the poet enjoying this 
moment completely alone in the early sun. 

The mirror is taunt When we look in the mirror, we will see our own 
face, we can see how we look. When people judge 
our appearance as bad or good, it can all be seen 
from a mirror. 

His eyes are coals from the 
middle of Hell 
 

This poem uses the metaphor of a tomcat to show 
how fickle humans can be. Some other metaphors 
include eyes made of coal. "His eyes are coals 
from the middle of Hell" depicts that the person 
in the poem is angry with a terrible glare like 
coals of fire. 

And his heart is black and 
hard 

A person or thing with a black heart is thought to 
be innately evil. 

My mistress’ eyes are 
nothing like the sun 

The speaker describes the woman he love’s eyes, 
noting that they are not like the suns. 

Coral is far more red than 
her lips’ red 

He then compares her lips to coral, a reddish-
pink, and concludes that her lips are much less 
red. 

That kisses were the seals 
of love 
 

This poem states that a kiss is proof of one's love 
for the person they love. "Kisses were the seals of 
love" means that he wants to possess the one he 
loves through a kiss. 

I see a lily on thy brow, 
With anguish moist and 
fever-dew, 

The speaker informs the knight that he appears to 
be in poor health. He tells him that his face is as 
pale as a lily and that he is sweating profusely, as 
if he has a fever. 

Sweet is the lore which 
nature brings 

Nature provides a greater pleasure than intrusive 
human inquiry. 

The dawn was apple-
green 
 
The sky was green wine 
held up in the sun 
 
 

Lawrence's "Green" expresses a woman's loss of 
innocence, or virginity. The color green, as 
implied by the title, is the central motif of this 
poem, representing the woman's initial innocence 
and naiveté. Lawrence's opening images depict 
an inexperienced woman's view of her 
surroundings. The moon is a "apple-green petal," 
the sky is "green wine held up in the sun," and 
the dawn is "apple-green." Through virginal 
green lenses, nature takes on a wondrous, 
fantastical quality. 

 



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DISCUSSION 

Based on   the findings, there are various types of metaphors found in 
poetry in the book "The Everyday Poet" by Deborah Alma.  
 

Poem Title Line contain 
Metaphor 

Type of Metaphor 

Work Without Hope, p.17 1 line Animal metaphor 

The Darkling Trush, p. 20 1 line Abstract to concrete  

Danse Russe, p. 32 1 line Abstract to concrete  

Dirty Bird, p. 24 1 line Synesthetic metaphor 

The Tom-Cat, p. 69 2 lines Anthropomorphic 
metaphor 

Sonnet 130, p. 86 2 lines Anthropomorphic 
metaphor 

Kisses, p. 87 1 line Anthropomorphic 
metaphor 

La Belle Dame Sans Merci: A 
Ballad, p. 94  

1 line Synesthetic metaphor 

The Tables Turned, p. 149 1 line Synesthetic metaphor 

Green, p. 163 1 line Anthropomorphic 
metaphor 

 
Based on the research that has been conducted, there are twelve lines 

(sentences) that contain metaphors. The abstract to concrete metaphor type is 
the most common of the 12 lines of metaphor found in some of the poem titles. 
Nevertheless, the researchers were focused on using Parera’s theory in 
analyzing the types of metaphor in the book of “The Everyday Poet” by Debora 
Alma.   

 
CONCLUSION 

Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that the poetry in the 
book "The Everyday Poet" contains 12 lines of metaphor, of which 2 are abstract 
to concrete metaphors, 3 are synesthetic metaphors, 1 is animal metaphor, and 6 
are anthropomorphic metaphors. Anthropomorphic metaphor is said to be the 
dominant types of metaphor. The poet attempts to describe their feeling or 
something by comparing the similarity of their experience or their own bodies 
using anthropomorphic metaphor. 

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that metaphor plays 
an important role in poetry writing. The poet can express their feelings to the 
reader through the depiction or comparison made by the poet, making the 
poetry more interesting to read. 
 

 



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