William Cowper and William Shakespeare: A Study of Metaphor and Persona

In poetry, there are many literary concepts used to create meaning more creatively. Both

William Cowper and William Shakespeare use metaphor and persona in writing their poems

respectively. Metaphor is often used to deliver a message in a less precise way to let its

audience interpret the poem unrestrictedly. According to Knowles and Moon (2006), when

writers use metaphorical language, the meaning of texts is more open to interpretation.

Readers would not interpret narrowly which allows metaphorical language to have a more

powerful impact compared to literal language. On the other hand, persona is the voice or the

character used to represent the writers’ thoughts for specific purposes. Poets use persona to

express their voices freely without any restrictions. Sometimes, it is also because they cannot

put their ideas or beliefs into words (Literary Devices, 2014).

The first text which is “The Castaway” is a mournful poem written in 1799 by William

Cowper. The poem describes a shipwrecked sailor during a stormy night. More than half of

the poem tells the story of a sailor struggling to stay alive. The sailor tries hard to fight the

storm, but at the end faces his unfortunate fate. He dies after being drowned by the “stifling

wave”. After the sailor dies, we hear a first person voice (“I”). The speaker compares his own

state to the sailor’s struggle. Through the speaker, we are given hints as to what the poem is

really about. The speaker uses the misfortunes of the sailor to illustrate his own misery.

The main metaphor is the narration of the sailor as he is drowning. The sequence of the story

of the drowning sailor is the vehicle. The intended meaning or tenor is the feeling of

helplessness. The connection between the vehicle and tenor is the idea of sinking and being

unable to do anything about it. There are also many minor metaphors in this poem. For

example, in line 6, “His floating home forever left” describes the ship metaphorically. Living

and spending most of time inside the ship, remind us the feelings of being at home but at the
same time, the ship is “floating” or not attached to anything because it continues to “float” on

the sea (Hull, 2015).

The title itself is a form of metaphor. The account of the drowning sailor fits the literal

meaning but at the end of the poem, a more metaphorical title is being suggested. We know

that “castaway” means someone who is stranded from being shipwrecked but as we read the

poem until the end; the last three stanzas tell us that it is more than just about a “castaway”.

When the speaker introduces the castaway in the beginning of the poem, it meets our

expectation of the title. We have expected a person being shipwrecked. However, as we read

more into the poem, there is a twist as the comparison between the speaker and the sailor

become more obvious. So the title “The Castaway” does not literally mean the shipwrecked

sailor only but also the similarity of a drowning person and the speaker suffering. When the

speaker started using “I”, we can finally know what the intended message is:

I therefore purpose not, or dream,

Descanting on his fate,

To give the melancholy theme

A more enduring date:

But misery still delights to trace

Its semblance in another's case.

(Cowper 55-60)

Cowper also uses persona to express his thoughts in a more meaningful way. The voice or

character in the poem goes back and forth between the first-person (“I”) to the third-person

(“he)(Hull, 2015). The “he” in the Cowper’s poem is a sailor being washed away from his
ship. The poet used a real account from the George Anson’s voyage (Guides, Cowper, Essays

& Cowper, 2015). We can refer that to the line 51-52, “That tells his name, his worth, his age,

Is wet with Anson’s tears.” The persona first introduced a person into the picture by using a

third person point of view, “he”. The persona introduced the sailor and related him to his own

misfortune in line 3, “When such a destined wretch as I,” which tells us that the sailor in a

way is similar to him. The persona then continues to tell how the sailor tries hard to stay

alive. Some of his shipmates try to help but unfortunately they have to save themselves first.

The poem emphasises more on the narration of the sailor struggling in the sea to stay alive.

The continuously usage of the third-person (“he”) makes us forget about the persona. The

persona removes any direct reference to him. The focus is on the sailor and his struggles in

the sea. However in the last few stanzas, we are reminded again about the persona. At the

end, he relates the struggles of the sailor to survive with his own state of sufferings. The

sailor’s frustration and despair is significant especially when the persona finally ‘speaks up’

in the three final stanzas. The comparison between the sailor and the persona creates more

meaningful meanings than stating how miserable the persona is. The persona compared both

of their suffering and even exaggerate his own by saying, “But I beneath a rougher sea/And

whelmed in deeper gulfs than he.” (65-66)

The character of the sailor being washed away and fighting to stay alive but eventually died

creates more powerful images for the reader. We know the sailor is desperate to reach out for

help. The persona’s state of mind is similar to the sailor’s struggle. The isolation that the

persona felt, “We perished, each alone;” (line 64) is similar to the act of the sailor’s

shipmates’ abandonment.

The second text which is Sonnet 18 titled “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” is

written in 1590 by William Shakespeare. Sonnet 18 describes the comparison of the speaker’s
beloved to the summer. Shakespeare uses a lot of metaphors in Sonnet 18. Most of the lines

are not to be taken literally because their meanings would not make sense.

The speaker starts off by asking whether he should compare his beloved to the summer’s day.

This comparison is a metaphor itself. His beloved person is as good as the summer’s day that

the speaker is thinking whether he should compare the two together. This can be seen in the

first line, “Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?” However, as he continues his

comparison, he realises that the person is much better than the summer. When he tries to

compare the two, he ends up contrasting them. Although these two are somehow similar, line

2, “Thou art more lovely and more temperate:” implies that his beloved is not on an equal

level with summer, but on a higher level.

The next few lines form line 3 to line 6 describes how summer is less lovely and not constant

(Shakespeare-online.com, 2015). Line 3 tells us “darling buds” or flowers are roughly shaken

by the summer’s wind. “And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:” in line 4 reminds us

that the summer only lasts a short period of time. “Lease” suggests that summer time is only a

borrowed time and will be returned soon without us realising it. The next line, “Sometime too

hot the eye of heaven shines,” implies that the “eye of heaven” is sun. Both “too hot” and

“shines” are the sun’s characteristics. He continues in line 6, “often is his gold complexion

dimmed”, a metaphor for the sun being blocked by clouds.

After his stark remark, the speaker admits that even though his lover is beautiful, her beauty

will fade due to “nature’s changing course” (line 8). In order for him to continue glorifying

her beauty, his lines will be preserved it. “But thy eternal summer shall not fade/ When in

eternal lines to time thou grow'st: ”(line 9 and line 12). The Sonnet 18 title which is “Shall I

compare thee to a Summer’s day?” implies more than what it means. This is because the
speaker’s intention changes as he tries to draw a comparison between his beloved and

summer. He ends up confessing that his beloved is more exceptional than summer.

Shakespeare also uses persona to get his belief across. He believes that a beloved person is

greater compared to the summer. Through the first-person speaker, the poet is able to

describe the feelings of admiring someone’s beauty. It is more convincing too because we are

hearing a voice directly to describe an individual uniquely. The persona’s way of describing

his beloved is as if we are reading a love letter. Compared to third-person narration, it would

have been impersonal and distant for us to accept his love for that particular person.

The persona makes us realise that there is someone out there who could favour a person in a

way that neither season nor flower could defeat. By using first-person voice, the persona is

being personal. This delivers the meaning of the sonnet more strongly as we are shown one

person’s devotion to his love.

Despite that, it is tempting to see the persona and the poet as the same person as in line 12,

“When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:” suggests to us the persona is a poet himself

because he would make his beloved’s beauty live through the lines he is writing on. We do

not know whether the persona is Shakespeare himself. However, there is a tendency to think

of the persona as it being Shakespeare. By distinguishing Shakespeare and the persona it

shows us how skilful Shakespeare can be by creating a persona to love someone dearly

instead of using his own experience. The persona allows us see his own point of view on his

lover’s beauty, not Shakespeare himself.

Both the poets of “The Castaway” and “Sonnet 18” had used metaphor sparingly to make

their poems more meaningful. Cowper successfully delivered the message that depression is

to be likened with a drowning sailor. While to Shakespeare, the beauty of someone’s beloved

is more superior compared to summer. Both the persona in the texts played their important
role in assisting the poets’ intent. The voices we hear while reading both poems are cleverly

written in such way that we are able to relate to their misery or fascination. Both metaphor

and persona as literary devices have served their function well in both texts.

References

Guides, S., Cowper, W., Essays, C., & Cowper, W. (2015). William Cowper Essay - Critical

Essays - eNotes.com. eNotes. Retrieved 9 October 2015, from

http://www.enotes.com/topics/william-cowper/critical-essays

Hull, S. (2015). Week 2 – Metaphor and Persona. Personal Collection of S. Hull, Universiti

Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang.

Hull, S. (2015). Week 3 – Poetry I: Metaphor. Personal Collection of S. Hull, Universiti

Sains Malaysia, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang.

Knowles, M., & Moon, R. (2006). Introducing metaphor. London: Routledge.

Literary Devices,. (2014). Persona - Definition and Examples of Persona. Retrieved 19

October 2015, from http://literarydevices.net/persona/

Shakespeare-online.com,. (2015). Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 - Shall I Compare

Thee to a Summer's Day. Retrieved 10 October 2015, from http://www.shakespeare-

online.com/sonnets/18detail.html