metaphor question

[wildsweetone]

is there any rule of thumb for use of metaphors in poetry?

sometimes i read poems and they have that many different metaphors within that it's overwhelming. my mind goes on a rampage from one to the next and keeping up is near impossible.

i always thought that one metaphor per poem is best. but the more i read around here, the more i think i'm wrong.

your thoughts?

 

[WickedEve]

I try to keep a sustained metaphor in any given poem. Recently, I realized--after several strophes of a poem I was working on--that my metaphor had changed. I suppose it can work if handled correctly, but I really do think a sustained metaphor can have a pleasing result.

 

[Rybka]

There is a difference between metaphoric theme and metaphoric image. Usually there is one theme per poem, but often many images.

is there any rule of thumb for use of metaphors in poetry?

sometimes i read poems and they have that many different metaphors within that it's overwhelming. my mind goes on a rampage from one to the next and keeping up is near impossible.

i always thought that one metaphor per poem is best. but the more i read around here, the more i think i'm wrong.

your thoughts?

 

[flyguy69]

I try to keep a sustained metaphor in any given poem. Recently, I realized--after several strophes of a poem I was working on--that my metaphor had changed. I suppose it can work if handled correctly, but I really do think a sustained metaphor can have a pleasing result.

I once sustained a metaphor for four straight hours. But then I had to call the doctor.

 

[wildsweetone]

There is a difference between metaphoric theme and metaphoric image. Usually there is one theme per poem, but often many images.

and it's okay for the metaphoric images to differ from the metaphoric theme?
isn't that where the overwhelming feeling comes in, when there's too many different metaphoric images?

 

[TheRainMan]

and it's okay for the metaphoric images to differ from the metaphoric theme?
isn't that where the overwhelming feeling comes in, when there's too many different metaphoric images?

I think as long as differing metaphors have a central theme, they can work well together, with proper handling. I find a theme switch to be somewhat overwhelming when I read, and try to avoid it, not always successfully, when writing.

 

[wildsweetone]

feel free to post examples of this theme and image stuff. my head's hurting with trying to figure out what a 'theme' is.

i only know when a metaphor 'feels' right... i don't know why it is technically right.

 

[Rybka]

and it's okay for the metaphoric images to differ from the metaphoric theme?
isn't that where the overwhelming feeling comes in, when there's too many different metaphoric images?

If you have multiple images ("SHOW" don't "TELL" style) after the introduction of the first metaphor, don't subsequent images have to vary to some degree? - I think the "overwhelming"/confusion often occurs in poems that may not be tightly constructed. - It is possible for a work to be too "metaphorically dense" or have images jumping all over the place, but a good poem will draw you in and along with out tumbling your sensibilities in the froth of the verbal surf. You should be "whelmed" not "over".