A _Metaphor_ (from the Greek _metapherein_, to carry over or transfer),
is a word used to _imply_ a resemblance but instead of likening one
object to another as in the _simile_ we directly substitute the action or
operation of one for another. If, of a religious man we say,--"He is as a
great pillar upholding the church," the expression is a _simile_, but if
we say--"He is a great pillar upholding the church" it is a metaphor. The
metaphor is a bolder and more lively figure than the simile. It is more
like a picture and hence, the graphic use of metaphor is called
"word-painting." It enables us to give to the most abstract ideas form,
color and life. Our language is full of metaphors, and we very often use
them quite unconsciously. For instance, when we speak of the _bed_ of a
river, the _shoulder_ of a hill, the _foot_ of a mountain, the _hands_ of
a clock, the _key_ of a situation, we are using metaphors.

Don't use mixed metaphors, that is, different metaphors in relation to the
same subject: "Since it was launched our project has met with much
opposition, but while its flight has not reached the heights ambitioned, we
are yet sanguine we shall drive it to success." Here our project begins as
a _ship_, then becomes a _bird_ and finally winds up as a _horse_.

_Personification_ (from the Latin _persona_, person, and _facere_, to make)
is the treating of an inanimate object as if it were animate and is
probably the most beautiful and effective of all the figures.

"The mountains _sing_ together, the hills _rejoice_ and _clap_ their
hands."

"Earth _felt_ the wound; and Nature from her seat,
_Sighing_, through all her works, gave signs of woe."