Question

Can someone help me find rhetorical devices used in this poem, "mother to son" by langston hughes. I know one is that the crystal stair is a metaphor but are there any others?

well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

Answer 1

in my opinion the whole poem is a metaphor, refering to the fact that life is not always going to be perfect

Answer 2

Lily is just exactly correct. The entire poem is a metaphor for life.

"Reaching landings, turning corners" Both are metaphors for various phases of living.

Answer 3

does this mean the poem is an allegory?