Figurative language in Poems

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Figurative language used:
"And there the moon-bird rests from his flight" Metaphor and personification is used. The moon-bird represents the moon and his flight means the flight path of the moon in the sky.

"Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow" Asphalt flowers represents the asphalt roads, and the flowers represent how common asphalt is in the city, like flowers in the countryside.

"There is a place where the sidewalk ends" Where the sidewalk ends is a symbol which symbolises the place where the endless roads and all the things in a city ends, for example a countryside, there is no roads, buildings and naturally no sidewalks. The author used sidewalks because sidewalks are more familiar to children, as the roads are a place of danger to them.

"Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black" The place where the smoke blows black is the city, most likely the industrial area as all the pollution, which is the smoke, comes from. so naturally the 'place' is a city.


Why I like this poem:
This poem instills an emotion of longing for natural things, the grass, the sun and all that that a child would have in a city covered with smoke from the cars and factories. The poem repeats about the chalk-white arrows and the walking measured and slowed. That gives me a sense that the children will get to where the arrows are pointing and out of where the smoke blows black. Also, the poem is short and easy to understand, and I never liked long poems, mostly because I won't be able to understand it.