Question

Read "The Cricket Sang" by Emily Dickinson.

The cricket sang,

And set the sun,

And workmen finished, one by one,

Their seam the day upon.

The low grass loaded with the dew,

The twilight stood as strangers do

With hat in hand, polite and new,

To stay as if, or go.

A vastness, as a neighbor, came,—

A wisdom without face or name,

A peace, as hemispheres at home,—

And so the night became.



In 1-2 sentences, explain how figurative language such as use of metaphor and simile can help a reader create meaning.

Answer 1

Metaphors and similes link abstract feelings to concrete images, letting readers grasp emotions and ideas vividly by comparing the unfamiliar to the familiar. For example, likening twilight to "strangers... With hat in hand" gives the evening a polite, hesitant personality, deepening the poem's mood and meaning.