The Poets Strike Poem Figurative Language

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Figurative Language in “The Poets’ Strike” Paul Zimmer’s, “The Poets’ Strike” is an exploration of the results of a hypothetical, worldwide revolution of poets. In asking what would happen if writers refused to write, Zimmer highlights the importance of language, literature and poetry itself. The poet’s use of imagery, metaphor, and simile reveals the importance the speaker in “The Poets’ Strike” places on writing. In the first stanza of “The Poets’ Strike” the speaker urges writers everywhere to stop writing and to destroy what they have written in “kindling fires in oil drums” (Line 4). This universal act, the speaker believes, will remove poetic devices from the world. In an excellent use of imagery, the speaker predicts that in a world without poetry, everyone would “dwell together in a void/Removed from beauty and truth.” (Lines 12-13). This implies that the speaker places great value on the influence of writing and of writers. The speaker’s experience with writing is made clear in the lines…show more content…
The speaker compares people to words, saying that without the influence of poetry, “People will move through life/Like worms swallowing/And excreting their tedious passage.” (Lines 18-20) These lines communicate the speaker’s convection that poetry makes life more exciting and meaningful. The comparison of humans to worms also proposes the idea that literature in general, and poetry, specifically, is what makes human beings human beings and sets them apart from animals. If the distinction of literature were to be removed, the speaker believes that people would have little distinction from worms. This comparison of humans to worms, which are a prosaic animal, further emphasizes the fact that poetry gives the world richness and beauty. In the second stanza of “Poets’ Strike,” Zimmer uses metaphor to inform his audience of the drastic effects the loss of poetry will have on
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