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Writing Problems: Mixed Metaphors

Writing Problems: Mixed Metaphors

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Sean Singer
Nov 23, 2024
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Writing Problems: Mixed Metaphors
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One of the best areas to expand the meaning and beauty of a poem is getting to the right metaphor. Mixing them is like bringing a rose to water, but instead of making him drink, you step in his thorn twice. Or something.

Mixed metaphors are a combination of two or more incompatible metaphors, which produce a ridiculous effect. They might seem like “rocket surgery,” but they are only a misused figure of speech.

Paul Muldoon turned these into a poem, “Symposium,” a quasi-sonnet:

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