Figurative Language Worksheet 1: Students identify poetic devices in four lines of poetry, with examples and explanations.

The worksheet asks you to identify which figurative language technique is being used in each line of poetry. The four techniques are:

- Simile – comparing two things using “like” or “as”
- Metaphor – comparing two things without using “like” or “as”
- Hyperbole – extreme exaggeration for effect
- Personification – giving human traits to non-human things

Let’s go through each question one by one.

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Question 1:
> Like burnt-out torches by a sick man’s bed

You’re told the answer is Simile.
Why? Because it uses the word “like” to compare “burnt-out torches” to something else (probably the sick man’s condition or surroundings). That’s the definition of a simile.

✔ Your answer: “Because there is there word ‘like’ and its compares the burned torches to the mans bed” — this is mostly correct, though you meant “the word ‘like’ compares the torches to the sick man’s bed.” Still, you got the right technique!

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Question 2:
> Drip—hiss—drip—hiss fall the raindrops / on the oaken log which burns, and steams, and smokes the ceiling beams. / Drip—hiss—the rain never stops.

You said Hyperbole, and explained: “Exaggerating the amount that the sink leaked.”

Wait — the poem talks about raindrops, not a sink. But you’re right that it’s hyperbole — because saying “the rain never stops” is an exaggeration. Rain can’t literally never stop — that’s impossible. So yes, hyperbole.

✔ Good job identifying hyperbole — just fix the example to match the poem (rain, not sink).

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Question 3:
> When the stars threw down their spears, / And water’d heaven with their tears,

You said Personification, and explained: “attribution of personal qualities”

Perfect! Stars can’t throw spears or cry tears — those are human actions. Giving stars human abilities = personification.

✔ Spot on.

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Question 4:
> The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
> The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,

You said Metaphor, and explained: “Comparing the moon to a ghost ship without using 'like' or 'as'”

Exactly right! The moon isn’t literally a ship — but we’re told it “was” one. Same with the road being a ribbon. No “like” or “as” → metaphor.

✔ Correct again.

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All your answers are correct! You just need to tweak the explanation in #2 to say “rain” instead of “sink.”

Final Answer:
All four answers are correctly identified: Simile, Hyperbole, Personification, Metaphor. Just adjust the explanation in #2 to refer to rain, not a sink.