The comparison (or simile) is a figure of speech that is in the category of word pictures.
It is determined through the similarity relationship, that is, by comparing two terms or ideas in a statement.
It is usually accompanied by comparative (connective) elements: with, as, as, as, as, so, as, as, it seems, etc.
It is very common to use comparison in informal (colloquial) language and in artistic texts, for example, in music, literature and theater.
Comparison Examples
To better understand the figure of speech comparison, check out some examples in literature and music below:
- “It's that your laugh penetrates the soul /Like the harmony of a holy orchestra.” (Castro Alves)
- “my love taught me to be simple like a church square.” (Oswald de Andrade)
- “My heart fell in life /such as a star wounded/by a hunter's arrow”. (Cecília Meireles)
- “I make verses like who cries/Desappointed... of disenchantment...” (Manuel Bandeira)
- “Life comes in waves,/like a sea/Num coming and going/infinite.” (Song "like a wave” by Lulu Santos)
- “Plane looks little bird/That doesn't know how to flap/Little bird flying far away/Looks butterfly that ran away from home.” (Song "dream of a flute” of Magic Theater)
Comparison and Metaphor
It is very common to have confusion between word pictures: comparison and metaphor. Although both use an analogy between terms, they are different.
While in metaphor there is a comparison between two terms implicitly, in comparison it happens explicitly.
Thus, the metaphor does not use a comparative element, as it does in comparison.
Examples:
Our life has been a bed of roses. (metaphor or implicit comparison)
our life has been like a bed of roses. (comparison or explicit comparison)
Other word pictures
In addition to the comparison, we have the word pictures:
- metaphor
- metonymy
- catachresis
- periphrasis (or antonomasia)
- synesthesia
Continue your research on the topic:
- Figures of Language
- Syntax figures
- Thought Figures
- Word Pictures
- Sound Figures
