What Is an Analogy? | Definition & Examples

An analogy is a literary device that draws a comparison between two things to highlight their similarities, often to explain or clarify an idea. Analogies aid readers in understanding complex concepts by relating them to something familiar. This makes them a useful tool for properly communicating nuanced ideas in literature.

A good example of an analogy is a calypso song by the Trinidadian singer, Gypsy: "The Sinking Ship" (1986). The song compares the governance of his country of Trinidad with a captain and sailors navigating a cruise ship. Here are a few stanzas from the song:

The Trinidad, a luxury liner, sailing the Caribbean Sea

With an old captain named Eric Williams

For years sail smooth and free

But sadly Eric Williams passed away

The ship hit rough water that day

Someone turn the bridge over

To a captain named Chambers

Mi blood crawl, things start to fall

Hold mih head when a sailor bawl

Captain, this ship is sinking

Captain, these seas are rough

We gas tank almost empty

No electricity, we oil pressure reading low

Shall we abandon ship?

Or shall we stay on it, and perish slow?

We don't know, we don't know

Captain, you tell we what to do

The Trinidad, oh she was a beauty,

With wealth that few surpassed

And in her day she sailed majestically

There were few in her class

Faithfully, she fulfilled her sailors' needs

Some were overpowered by greed

And so they pilfered slow

Some took by bulk an' go

Now she look dull, she's at a lull

She could barely sit on her hull

The song takes what at the surface is a cliche and embellishes it with literary devices, imagery, and details that make the song a compelling story. Here is a video of the song as performed by Gypsy:

Gypsy performing the calypso song,"The Sinking Ship."

The first line "The Trinidad, a luxury liner, sailing the Caribbean Sea" situates the island and further justifies the analogy to a cruise ship by making it known it is a Caribbean island in the Caribbean Sea, which is associated with tourism and cruise ships.

Furthermore, the lines "Shall we abandon ship? / Or shall we stay on it, and perish slow?" explain the dilemma that citizens of badly run countries face: Should they stay in the country they love despite difficulties, or should they migrate to better lands abroad? Again, the analogy with a sinking ship seems natural and effortless.

Lastly, the couplet "Now she look dull, she's at a lull/She could barely sit on her hull" is precise imagery that shows a ship about to sink or that is stuck. This imagery is further enhanced by the use of consonance and assonance in words like "dull," "lull," and "hull."

In particular, the word "lull" is appropriately chosen because of its natural onomatopeia. This means the sound of the word matches the meaning it hints at. The repetition of the "l" sound in "lull" both at the beginning and end of the word gives the impression of the vessel being stuck and going nowhere. The assonance and consonance in "dull" and "hull" only serve to emphasize this effect.

The song works because of the way it sustains the analogy through about five stanzas while breathing new life into the old cliche of comparing a leader to a captain.

In this article, we take a closer look at analogies and use examples from Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, John Dryden, and John Keats.

Portrait of Emily Dickinson.

Examples of analogy

A good example of analogy is in Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 73" (1609):

1. Shakespeare, Sonnet 73:

That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

In me thou see'st the twilight of such day

As after sunset fadeth in the west,

Which by and by black night doth take away,

Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

As the death-bed whereon it must expire,

Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.

This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

The poem in fact is made up of three analogies. In the first quatrain (or four lines), the poet compares his aging body to trees losing their leaves in winter. In the second quatrain, he draws an analogy with his old age and the setting sun. In the third quatrain, the analogy is with a dying fire.

All three analogies drive toward the same thing. The author is pondering on his old age, his loss of vigor, and his eventual mortal demise. In the last two lines of the poem, he suggests that the person he is addressing should appreciate the precious time they have left.

2. Dickinson, "Because I Could not Stop for Death" (1863):

Emily Dickinson's "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" uses an analogy that compares death to a gentleman driving a carriage headed toward Eternity. The analogy can be described as an extended metaphor:

Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring –

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –

We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed Us –

The Dews drew quivering and Chill –

For only Gossamer, my Gown –

My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground –

The Roof was scarcely visible –

The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity –

The analogy has a surreal effect, while accurately describing the nature of death. Death here is portrayed as a sociable and kindly gentleman when in fact that is not the case. It is something that most people find terrifying and have no control over. Emily Dickinson uses the analogy here to stare the reality of death in the face to imagine "the Eternity" beyond it.

3. Dryden, Flecknoe (1682):

Our next example of an analogy is from the 17th-century poet John Dryden. John Dryden disagreed with a fellow poet by the name of Thomas Shadwell. He decided to express his disagreement by comparing Shadwell to a bad poet well-known for his bad poetry or doggerel, Mac Flecknoe. The comparison took the form of a satirical poem, Mac Flecknoe:

All human things are subject to decay,

And, when Fate summons, monarchs must obey:

This Flecknoe found, who, like Augustus, young

Was call'd to empire, and had govern'd long:

In prose and verse, was own'd, without dispute

Through all the realms of Non-sense, absolute.

This aged prince now flourishing in peace,

And blest with issue of a large increase,

Worn out with business, did at length debate

To settle the succession of the State:

And pond'ring which of all his sons was fit

To reign, and wage immortal war with wit;

Cry'd, 'tis resolv'd; for nature pleads that he

Should only rule, who most resembles me:

Shadwell alone my perfect image bears,

Mature in dullness from his tender years.

Shadwell alone, of all my sons, is he

Who stands confirm'd in full stupidity.

The rest to some faint meaning make pretence,

But Shadwell never deviates into sense.

Some beams of wit on other souls may fall,

Strike through and make a lucid interval;

But Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray,

His rising fogs prevail upon the day:

In the poem, Shadwell is portrayed as the inheritor of the kingdom of bad poetry and stupidity represented by Flecknoe. The analogy is absurd as it is elaborate and detailed. Dryden begins by comparing Flecknoe to Augustus Caesar.

Flecknoe is portrayed as an aged king with many stupid sons, but with only Shadwell being stupid enough to deserve inheritance of the kingdom:

Shadwell alone my perfect image bears,

Mature in dullness from his tender years.

Shadwell alone, of all my sons, is he

Who stands confirm'd in full stupidity.

The poem is masterful in that it extends for 217 lines in this sort of jest without letting up. The analogy of the king of stupidity passing his throne of bad verse to a worthy son in the person of Shadwell worked so well that it has lasted and continues to entertain for more than 300 years. Even if people are unaware of what the dispute between Shadwell and Dryden was, the satire still remains brilliant and hilarious.

4. Keats, “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art” (1838):

Our last example is from the Romantic poet John Keats. His poem "Bright Star Would I Were Stedfast as Thou Art" contains two analogies comparing him to a star. Here is the poem in full:

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—

Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night

And watching, with eternal lids apart,

Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,

The moving waters at their priestlike task

Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,

Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask

Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—

No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,

Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,

To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,

Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,

Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,

And so live ever—or else swoon to death.

The poem is a Shakespearean sonnet. It is a love poem that is separated into the traditional octave (first eight lines) and sestet (last four lines). Each of the two divisions of the poem contains an analogy that is in juxtaposition to each other.

The first analogy in the first eight lines of the poem is a negative one. Keats wishes to be like the star, but then explains what aspect of the star he does not wish to resemble — namely, its "lone splendour." The images he uses to make this point suggest a life of loneliness and chastity. He makes reference to nature's "Eremite," which refers to a Christian hermit or recluse, as well as waters performing "their priest-like tasks of pure ablution."

Instead, in the last six lines, he tells us what comparison with the star that he prefers. It is the ability to remain faithful to his beloved, which he describes as "Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast." This is in stark contrast to "nature's patient, sleepless Eremite." In short, the poem moves effortlessly from a negative analogy of a lonely and chaste star to one of steadfast romantic loyalty to one's beloved.

5. Lawrence, "The Poetry of the Present" (1920):

Lawrence wrote "The Poetry of the Present" as a preface to his collection of poems titled New Poems. The essay makes a rather poetic and beautiful analogy between poetry and bird song.

It seems when we hear a skylark singing as if sound were running forward into the future, running so fast and utterly without consideration, straight on into futurity. And when we hear a nightingale, we hear the pause and the rich, piercing rhythm of recollection, the perfect past. The lark may sound sad, but with the lovely lapsing sadness that is almost a swoon of hope. The nightingale’s triumph is a pæan, but a death-pæan. . . . So it is with poetry. Poetry is, as a rule, either the voice of the far future, exquisite and ethereal, or it is the voice of the past, rich, magnificent.

In this passage above, the poet compares the poetry of the future with the song of a lark and contrasts it with the poetry of the past, which he compares to the song of a nightingale. In short, it is an analogy that also includes a juxtaposition.

6. Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1985):

Sylvia Plath, in her first and only novel, The Bell Jar, came up with the fig tree analogy. This analogy has recently grown to become viral in social media, with young people seeing in it a reflection of the pivotal choices they are faced with upon graduation from university. Sylvia Plath meant the analogy to depict the tragedy of a life with potential wasted through mental illness:

I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.

In the analogy, a young woman compares her life to a bountiful fig tree. Each fruit in the fig tree represents a life choice. These choices include 1. a vocation as a poet; 2. a life as a married woman and mother; 3. a vocation as a professor; 4. a vocation as an editor; 5. a life as a wanderer; 6. a vocation as an Olympic athlete; and 6. numerous other choices. The character can't choose because choosing one fruit means missing out on the possibilities of the others. The fruit eventually rot and drop to the ground.

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Why writers use analogy

Writers use analogy to make abstract or complex ideas easy to understand. For example, the analogies used by Shakespeare in "Sonnet 73" are easy to recognize by anyone. This is reinforced even more by the ending of the poem, which ends with the following couplet:

This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,

To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

The poem is saying that we should cherish our loved ones while we can a slide is short. This is a common sentiment that most people would appreciate or agree with.

Analogies also can be used to accurately describe difficult concepts or ideas. In the case of Emily Dickinson, the dread of death is taken away using a mixture of understatement and analogy. For example, the poet says "Because I could not stop for Death . . . / He kindly stopped for me." The poet is describing how we don't want to die but have no choice in the matter because death will eventually stop for us.

What is the difference between analogy and metaphor?

Analogies and metaphors are closely related. In fact, some of the best analogies are metaphors and similes. Emily Dickinson's poem is a personification of death that transforms death into a carriage driver. Shakespeare's "Sonnet 73" uses three metaphors.

The difference between the two lies in the fact that an analogy is usually more extensive and explains a longer and more complicated idea in more detail. Emily Dickinson's poem is a prime example of this. Metaphors are usually briefer. It explains several aspects of death. This includes the fact that humans have no choice in the matter in Stanza 1.

Stanza 2 describes how all humans care about ("My labor and my leisure too") are put to the side when faced with the reality of death. Stanza 3 references to "the school" and "gazing grain" to symbolize human youth and bloom. Lastly, Stanzas 4 and 5 symbolize the final stage of being buried, with five contemplating the "Eternity" that comes after death.

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Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2024, December 18). What Is an Analogy? | Definition & Examples. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/what-is-an-analogy