Metaphor and Simile

Metaphors underscore the similarities between two dissimilar things or ideas. Extended metaphors draw out that comparison. In "Colibrí," Espada develops an extended metaphor by comparing the Taino to the hummingbird. The tenor, or subject, of the comparison is the hummingbird, and the vehicle, or the metaphorical term itself, is the Taino. The third stanza is an example of an implicit metaphor, which is one in which the tenor is not specified but implied. The implied tenor here is the Taino.

In similes, comparison between two different things or ideas is made through the use of the word "like" or "as." Espada begins the poem with a simile when he writes, "the lizards scatter / like a fleet of green canoes / before the invader." This comparison draws attention to the fear of the lizards and the people in the canoes, and to the way in which both...