Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting…
2023
Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate option.
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
Identify the figure of speech used in :
‘The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun’.
- A.
Hyperbole
- B.
Simile
- C.
Metaphor
- D.
Personification
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
A metaphor identifies one thing directly as another, without a connecting word like ‘like’ or ‘as’. It differs from a simile, which uses such a connecting word; from personification, which gives a non-human object explicit human actions or traits; and from hyperbole, which relies on obvious exaggeration for effect.
In the line ‘The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun’, the sun is named outright as a lamp — one object is stated as being another object, with no comparison word linking them. This direct equating of two unlike things is the defining feature of a metaphor.
No exaggerated claim is made about the sun’s size, brightness, or effect, so it does not stretch a fact beyond literal truth.
No connecting word such as ‘like’ or ‘as’ appears anywhere in the line.
No human action or trait (smiling, running, feeling) is assigned to the sun within this specific line — it is simply renamed as an object.
The figure of speech used in this line is therefore a metaphor.