Edna St. Vincent Millay’s 1921 poem “Spring” turns the typical pastoral poem on end with its unsentimental attitude. Rather than praising the beauty and natural splendor of springtime, Millay’s speaker takes the arrival of April as an occasion to meditate on the meaninglessness of existence. In lines of stark, cerebral free verse, the speaker arrives at the conclusion that “Life in itself/Is nothing.” With her use of metaphor, Millay enhances the impact of the ideas and the dark humor of the tone, offering us such memorable metaphors as “April/Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.”

Skills: analysis, drawing inferences from text, close reading, identifying the relationship between words

About This Document

The Owl Eyes Analyzing Metaphor activity gives students an opportunity to practice examining and analyzing metaphors. Students will engage with specific selections of the text and work collaboratively to identify the vehicle, tenor, and implications of each metaphor. The main components include the following:

• A brief introduction to the text
• A detailed handout on metaphor types
• A step-by-step guide to activity procedure
• A detailed answer key for teachers

In completing this worksheet, students will learn to classify and analyze different kinds of metaphors in order to develop close reading skills and draw deeper inferences from the text.