Metaphorical Language Use in Modern English Poetry and Its Pedagogical Implications

Abstract

Metaphor is seen as the essential resource of poetic language in making the abstract tangible through concrete imagery and packing complex thoughts and ideas into concise image-based structures. The present paper aims at analyzing metaphorical language in contemporary English poetry and its pedagogic significance in secondary and higher education. Based on the conceptual metaphor theory and associated studies in cognitive linguistics and stylistics, this paper will provide an overview of how modern poets employ conventional conceptual metaphors, develop new metaphors by combining them in different ways, and challenge them in order to create new meaning. An overview of empirical research in the area of how learners perceive and comprehend metaphors in poetry will also be provided. According to the review of literature, whereas metaphor comprehension is rather challenging for many second and even native language speakers, proper instruction, discourse analysis, and cognitive processing can lead to significant progress in metaphor comprehension and enjoyment of poetry.