Figurative Language And Hyperbole In My Picture By Abraham Cowley

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In the poem, “My Picture”, Abraham Cowley’s figurative language and melancholy diction emphasize the pain and loss that the speaker will soon experience when his beloved leaves him. Cowley uses two significant types of figurative language - imagery and hyperbole. His diction alters depending on whether the speaker refers to himself or to his beloved. Through the use of figurative language and shifting diction, Cowley effectively captures the speaker’s mournful state of mind. The imagery and hyperbole that Cowley uses to convey the speaker’s condition the day after his loved one leaves him suggests that the speaker is incapable of living without his beloved. He is lifeless when she leaves. In the first stanza, the speaker explains, “For when
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