Figurative Language

Hey,
The poem I have chosen is Mother to Son by Langston Hughes. It is "Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, And boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floorâ. Bare. But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on, And reachin' landin's, And turnin' corners, And sometimes goin' in the dark Where there ain't been no light. So, boy, don't you turn back. Don't you set down on the steps. 'Cause you finds it's kinder hard. Don't you fall now—For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Firstly, this phrase "crystal stair" is, in my opinion, a use of figurative language. It is, in my opinion, a metaphor. Life has no relation with a crystal stair, and therefore it doesn't make sense to say that "life ain't been no crystal stair". Therefore, the poet wants us to draw a conclusion that this "crystal stair" is representing a smooth journey, without many obstacles. Therefore, in this instance, he is saying that life for this mother has not been smooth with many difficulties she has had to overcome. I suppose that the poet chose to use this figurative language as it sounds fanciful and stylish and mskes the reader more interested as you must read the whole poem before you can fully understand that phrase, something that cannot be achieved if you directly tell the readers what you are saying.
Actually, there are more uses of metaphors here, such as "tacks" and "splinters", as life cannot have tacks and splinters, can it? Now, touching on symbolism. The word "dark" in the poem is used as a symbol that, in my opinion, represents a place where all seems lost, in other words, failure. In my opinion, the author is trying to tell us that when we fail, we "dont turn back" like this mother, we should keep trying, and like what the poet wrote, "keep climbing".
Okay, that is about it for figurative language, read my next post to find out why I like this poem.