Health
The persona uses metaphors to describe the value of health to an individual. The description is as, ‘O precious treasure incomparable,
O ground and root of prosperity,
O excellent and praiseworthy splendor,
Beyond anything found on earth!’
By referring to health as a treasure and ground and root of prosperity, the narrator has likened health to a precious treasure that everyone aspires to have and once they get it they keep it.
Metaphor to describe ill health
The persona of the poem used metaphor of a thief to describe ill health. The description is as, ‘Against your enemy and mine, that cruel thief,
Who pins me down under foot in misfortune,
So that you’ll reunite me with your grace.
O now your help, your comfort and aid,
And I’ll exile my misrule for ever!’
The thief who pins the person underfoot is metaphorical for ill health. This is because ill health gets to a person and makes them suffer just as the thief does.
Metaphor to describe the consequences of excessive consumption
The persona says that, ‘Sickness, I mean, the scourge of rioters,
Who has paid me my wages very generously,
So that neither dancing nor leaping please me.’
The wages that were paid for excessive consumption are a metaphor to describe the ill health of the narrator. The ill health is perceived as a punishment for excessive eating and drinking for many years by the persona.
Simile to describe the persona's embarrassment
The narrator says that while he was out drinking, he would get content if he only got a kiss from the young girls in the tavern. When his friends talked about having sex, he would get embarrassed. He describes his embarrassment as, I grew as red as an ember for embarrassment.’ The simile likens the flushing of his face to the color red of an ember.
Metaphor to describe the effects of flattery
The persona says that he has seen the downfall of may due to flattery. He says,
‘Yet I have seen in high-ranking people
How the poison of flattery’s tongue
Has destroyed their prosperity.’
The word ‘poison’ is metaphorical for it means the negative effects of flattery.
