Robert Scholes and the Use of Metaphors

Daily conversations yield thousands of misinterpreted phrases and sentences. Everyone says what they want, but possibly do not understand what they say. Every day people's language is altered by the use of metaphors. Use of metaphors is included to try and make it easier to describe one's life, emotions, and hardships. But do these metaphors help the description, or just plunge the listener into a pit farther from where they started to understand. Use of metaphors is inherent in poetry as well, but is it necessarily in the same way? Poetry itself, writing in general, is almost always up for interpretation. Though the author may have been trying to make a clear argument, most readers take from the reading what they wish, not what the author wishes. In Robert Scholes, Text Book, he analyzes the use of metaphors within poetry. As metaphors are examined within a variety of poems, Robert Scholes comes up with some interesting questions to answer. What does the use of metaphor have to do with the 'difficulty' of poetry? What makes an interesting metaphor interesting?

The first question that Robert Scholes addresses is what does the use of metaphors have to do with the 'difficulty' of poetry. I find poetry to be very difficult because it is open to multiple interpretations. Ten people could read a single poem and every single one of them could come away with a different interpretation of the author's intentions. For example, when I read, "Because I could not stop for Death" I saw multiple interpretations of the author's intentions. I cannot figure out which of these interpretations is the right one, if there is a right one. The first time I read through the poem, I thought it was just a person describing his journey as he starts to leave this world. I saw it only as an explanation of him dying. When I reread the poem, I came up with an even more precise interpretation. I saw the man describing that moment before you die where your life flashes before your eyes. This moment was different for him though, because it did not happen quickly. He saw his life, but at a slow pace so he could really drink it all in and examine what his life consisted of.

I found the poem, "The Flea" to also contain many different interpretations. I found this one to be particularly hard to interpret because you do not know if you are supposed to take this poem literally or figuratively. This is the other reason that metaphors are difficult to interpret within poetry. Sometimes you do not even realize that metaphors are present within the poem. They fit so well within the poem that you do not recognize them as metaphors, and you take them literally. Other times you have to have specific background knowledge, otherwise the metaphor will just go over your head. "The Flea" they speak of "two bloods mingled" (Robert Scholes 89). I found this line to be particularly frustrating because it set up the rest of the poem's interpretation. You could take this literally, and just figure that the same flea bit two different people, so their blood would have to mix. I thought that this could also be a sign of love. When two people fall in love they have an everlasting bond that can never be separated. When you mix two people's blood, it also can never be separated. So, this leaves me in a dilemma for the rest of the poem, because depending on which interpretation I choose, the poems meaning will change significantly.

Robert Scholes brought up a second question: what makes interesting use of metaphors interesting? We see use of metaphors thousands of times every day. Most people do not even recognize use of metaphors in their own everyday conversations. But how do you distinguish between an interesting use of metaphors and uninteresting use of metaphors? I think that one reason use of metaphors can be interesting is that they often make you think about their meaning. You cannot just understand the use of metaphors in two seconds. When you delve into the meaning of the metaphor and realize the metaphor's hidden meaning, than it becomes an interesting use of metaphors. I found the poem, "Moving in Winter" to contain an interesting use of metaphors when you put them together. At the beginning of the poem it says "headboard and footboard," which are structures of a bed (Robert Scholes 90). These are constraints that make the bed what it is. This is quickly followed by, "the bed" and when you think of a bed, you either think of someone sleeping or having sex (Robert Robert Scholes 90). The "headboard and footboard" are constraints on the bed, which only let it be useful for a limited number of things (Robert Scholes 90). The woman then is lying in the bed "desiring him" (Robert Scholes 90). Desire is also associated with sex. Finally, I found this metaphor to be deemed true when it says, "the wax runs down" (Robert Robert Scholes 91). If wax is running on a candle, it means the candle is lit. If the candle is lit, it means they are not sleeping, which leads to the conclusion that they are having sex. This poem combines many metaphors to give you the meaning of the poem. I think these metaphors are interesting because you have to combine all of them, and take your time interpreting the poem to understand it. It is not quick and simple; you have to work at it.

Additionally, metaphors within poetry can be interesting because sometimes the meanings of the metaphors have a special interest for you. This was especially true for me within the poem, "Pitcher." Many of the metaphors within "Pitcher" were interesting because I have played softball for many years, and even tried to pitch a few times. The older I got, the more complex pitching became, and that complexity is described perfectly in this poem. The best metaphor within this poem is the last line. "Making the batter understand too late," is a very interesting metaphor for me because as a batter I know exactly what they are talking about (Robert Scholes 90). A pitchers goal is to throw strikes at the batter, but these strikes cannot be obvious. The pitcher has to manage to throw a strike that does not look like a strike until it is too late for the batter to realize it is one. That is what this line is referring to. Since I played softball for over ten years, this metaphor brought back many great memories. That is why I find this particular metaphor interesting. This may not be interesting for other people, but that is because they would not have a special interest in softball. Interesting metaphors are different for every person depending on their likes and interests.

Metaphors play an important role within poetry. They make poems more difficult to understand sometimes because they can have multiple interpretations. Also, some metaphors are more interesting than others. The poem could be more interesting for readers by providing a special interest for them, or having them actually think harder about the true meaning of the poem. This crucial role that metaphors play can never be replaced though, because many things cannot be described so easily. Metaphors provide a way to describe these difficult emotions or actions in a way that many people can relate to.

Works Cited

Scholes, Robert. Text Book. 3rd. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002.