Love In Texas Figurative Language

In poetry, poets use a variety of words to express either praise, mockery, or mourning. But how does the reader figure out whether the poet is trying to praise, mock, or mourn the subject of the poem? In Carol Coffee’s poem, Vegetable Love in Texas, Coffee uses the literary devices of figurative language, mood, and tone to praise tomatoes. In the poem, Coffee uses words in a way that deviates from the conventional order and meaning, known as figurative language, to praise tomatoes. Coffee writes, “Like talisman” (8). A talisman is an object people believe to have magical powers and bring good luck. Coffee writes that a tomato is like a talisman in her poem because she is trying to get the reader to view a tomato as a talisman, since

In Coffee’s poem about tomatoes, she praises tomatoes by putting the reader in different moods as they are reading her poem. Coffee writes, “Lush like a kiss long desired” (27). Coffee sets the mood to love because if a person kisses another person, that means they love them and if the kiss is long desired, that would mean they have loved them for a long time. Coffee sets the mood to love to praise tomatoes because she wants the reader to feel a time when they loved someone or something. When people love someone or something, they compliment the person or thing which is praising them. Another example of mood is when Coffee writes, “Firm like a vow, the hope of rain” (28). When the reader reads this line in the poem, the words make them feel a dedication or a desire to an object, person, or anything else a person might feel a dedication or a desire towards. By getting the reader to feel a sense of dedication or a desire it can make the reader realize there is nothing better than tomatoes, ultimately praising them. In the poem, Coffee uses mood by using examples of different times in a person's life when they would either feel love, dedication, or a desire, to get the reader to feel those emotions. Coffee puts the reader in these moods because when people feel love, desire, or dedication, they are praising that person or