Saturday, March 22, 2014

What figure of speech is in "Macbeth" II.1: "a heavy summons drowsiness lies like lead upon me,/and yet i would not sleep"?

You have two different comparisons at work in this line. First, drowsiness is called a "heavy summons." That figure of speech is a metaphor. The Guide to Literary Terms defines metaphor as:

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to a person, idea, or object to which it is not literally applicable.

The other comparison also involves drowsiness, which "lies like lead upon me." This kind of comparison is a simile, and The Guide to Literary Terms gives it this definition:

a figure of speech in which two things, essentially different but thought to be alike in one or more respects, are compared using “like,” “as,” “as if,” or “such” for the purpose of explanation, allusion, or ornament.

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