Examples of controlling metaphors are provided in an examination of the poem 'Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold' by Edward Taylor in a paper consisting of five pages. Three sources are cited in the bibliography.
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determine the course of that project or event and its overall influence and effect on the persons involved. Such is the power of the element of literature known as the
controlling Metaphor. A controlling metaphor runs through an entire work and determines the form or nature of that work. The controlling metaphor in Edward Taylors poem, Upon a Wasp Chilled
With Cold, is, of course, the metaphor of the wasp, itself. However, it can be said that the metaphor in this poem runs on two levels. The top level of
course, deals with the literal interpretation of the wasp, and then there is the underlying current of the message of the poem or the symbolism of the wasp and what
it represents. According to the actual definition of the word, Metaphor, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that it is a figurative element in language, having been derived from the French
word for transfer (Merriam/Webster, 2002). Therefore, a metaphor, literally is a figure of speech where a word or a collection of words denote one kind of object or idea and
is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or similarity between them(Merriam/Webster, 2002). An example might be died of a broken heart or swimming in sin. Also,
interesting to note, there are several distinctions of metaphors. According to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary (2002) metaphors can be considered dead if they have been overused in the English language.
Such an example would be time is running out. Writers generally call these often repeated phrases, clich?s and attempt to avoid them at all costs. In Taylors poem, one can
see the controlling metaphor of the wasp, such as is used in this passage: Lord, clear my misted sight that I