Extended Metaphor and Imagery Poets and authors are extremely creative in their use of literary devices. Imagery and extended metaphor are used all throughout the poems, The Twenty-Third Psalm and Sympathy. These poems have completely different backgrounds and themes but they share the same literary devices. The use of imagery and extended metaphors helps the author illustrate its purpose and connect the themes. Sympathy, written by Paul Laurence Dunbar, is about a bird who is trapped in his cage and wishes to see the outside world. The bird is in pain as a result of longing for freedom and attempting to physically escape the cage. The Twenty-Third Psalm is a poem from the Bible's book of Psalms. This book was written by King David, and in this poem, he tells us that God is a Shepherd who guides and protects David. The Lord also protects and provides for David. …show more content…
A specific quote that starts the extended metaphor, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” God is represented as a shepherd, and his followers as sheep. This includes the speaker, who feels protected and nurtured by the presence of religion in his life. King David was a shepherd in the bible therefore the metaphor of God being the shepherd is alerting. The psalms suggest that the Lord in the shepherd and the speaker or reader of the poem is the sheep. The poem contains imagery by the use of nature. Many times you can see this poem copied onto a pretty landscape in the background. The reason for that is because of the imagery that it brings to readers. When people are in need of rest or a time of relaxation, they may think of green pastures. The color and use of nature throughout the Psalm gives readers an imagination for what is being said. David uses imagery by saying, “He makes me lie down in green pastures,he leads me beside quiet